Redemption
by D-man133
Summary: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he’ll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him? AU
1. Prequel

Redemption

Redemption

Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur and never will.

-

Prequel: Nightmare

He was just sick of everything going on in this band. He was sick of the other members, the songs, even his own attitude towards everyone. Siegfried just had to get away. As he sat back stage holding his Left Handed Dean Explosion Razorback he decided that this was going to be his last show with the band, Nightmare after being with them for seven years.

As he thought about it, it was rather hard to believe… it felt like yesterday he was sixteen, joining the band and getting disowned by his own parents because of it. He didn't care at first though; it was his dream to become a rock star. But, after seven years of still being underground and him not even showing his face on stage…

Augh, damn that helmet. Since he joined he wore a bunch of demonic helmets that completely covered his face. It wasn't that he was ugly or anything, they just thought it would be cool. His new one was a dark blue color with this gold horn sticking out of the forehead. It was because of those things he was called the Azure Knight by his fans- correction the fans of the band, because no one really likes him.

Over the years he grew this attitude that no one seemed to like. Like at the last show he shook up a beer can, opened it and threw it into the crowd, because some kid threw an empty water bottle on stage. It was stuff like that that made him hated among other guitarist in the underground music world and he hated it.

As he thought about it all, the more he wanted out. As he leaned up against his Diezel Einstein amp head and cabinets and tied his long, blonde hair into a pony tail, he officially decided that it was time to retire.

"What's up, Siegfried?" said an older blond man walking towards him. "It's not like you to get nervous."

"It's not that Raphael." Siegfried said back to the man. Raphael was the bassist of Nightmare and the only person Siegfried was able to really talk to. "I was just making a serious decision."

"About what? Whether or not you're going to do your famous Beer Bomb again?" Siegfried knew Raphael was joking, but it wasn't all that funny.

"No, but I'm leaving Nightmare." Siegfried told him. He wasn't expecting any surprise though; Raphael saw this coming for quite sometime, that's why it was okay to tell him first.

"Good for you." Raphael said patting him on the back. "So, are you going to form another band when you leave?"

"No, I'm going to retire from music and just get a normal job." Siegfried admitted. Now, Raphael was shocked.

"What?! That's not the Siegfried Schtauffen Way." Raphael said referring to something Siegfried told him a long time ago.

The Siegfried Schtauffen Way, something Siegfried would say to keep himself more focused on the music than anything else. 'Music before yourself.' That was the Siegfried Schtauffen Way. It was amazing Raphael remembered that, because Siegfried told him that about five years ago.

"How the hell do you remember that?" Siegfried asked the bassist.

"So, you're leaving?" Said an older man walking into the room. He just stared at Siegfried as he stroked his mustache.

"Go away Cervantes." Siegfried said not even looking at him. He never did get along with the bands vocalist. Mainly due to age, Since Siegfried was the youngest member Cervantes always treated him like a kid.

"Whatever, just be a good boy in your last show and don't throw any Beer Bombs." Cervantes said meaning it as an insult to him.

Siegfried of course took it as an insult. "I hate that guy." He said rolling up the sleeves on his black long sleeve shirt. "I don't want to be in the same room as him after this."

"Don't worry about it." Raphael said to him staring at wearing Cervantes. He then decided to change the subject and turned his head to the guitarist. "Oh, will you still be teaching guitar to Amy and that other."

"Huh? Yeah." Siegfried replied just realizing that Raphael changed the subject. "I still have an acoustic I can use to teach kids."

Just then a dark skinned man dressed in a business suit walked into the room. "Raphael, get your things. You guys are going up now." The man said to him.

"Oh, my bad." Raphael said running out of the room.

Siegfried just shook his head as he put on his Azure Knight helmet.

"Oh, and Azure Knight?" The dark skinned man said to him getting his attention. "No Beer Bombs, please."

'I only did that once.' Siegfried thought as he walked out to the stage. "No problem, Zasalamel." He said looking back at the dark skinned man. Of course, Zasalamel was the club owner and last time Siegfried did a so called Beer Bomb he almost got sued for it because the can almost hit a guy.

Siegfried noticed that he was the first on stage and of course no one applauded for him as he hooked up his guitar to his Boss GT10 Mutli Effects pedal board, and then plugged it into his amp. Right now he could care less what people thought of him right now; right now he was focused on getting the show done so he could take off the stupid helmet and leave.

And as everyone else walked on stage shortly, Cervantes with his mic, Raphael with his off-white colored Axl Badwater Bass plugged into his Eden WT800 amp head with cabinets, and Astaroth the drummer sitting down at his seven piece set made by Tama.

Siegfried and Astaroth never got close, manly because Astaroth was a homicidal freak and he barely wore a shirt exposing all his abnormally large muscles.

"How's everybody feeling tonight?!" Cervantes screamed into his mic causing the crowd to cheer.

-

The show was about half way over when it was about time to make an announcement.

"Now I have an announcement. The Azure Knight, our guitarist is leaving the band tonight so this is his last show." Cervantes said, but everyone in the crowd was either happy that he was leaving or didn't saw anything fearing that he was going to do something. "So we are going to perform a favorite of his that he loved to play and that you guys love as well. This is Inside the Fire."

The crowd cheered as Siegfried a.k.a The Azure Knight played the intro followed by everyone else. The crowd then went silent when Cervantes did his famous evil laugh and started dancing around for a short amount of time, and then started to sing.

_Devon  
Won't go to heaven  
She's just another lost soul, about to be mine again  
Leave her  
We will receive her  
It is beyond your control  
Will you ever meet again_

_Devon  
One of Eleven  
Who had been rendered unwhole.  
As a little child,  
She was taken  
And then forsaken  
You will remember it all  
Let it fill your mind again_

_Devon lies beyond this portal  
Take the word of one immortal  
Give your soul to me  
For eternity  
Release your life  
To begin another time with her  
End your grief with me  
There's another way  
Release your life  
Take your place inside the fire with her_

_Sever  
Now and forever  
You're just another lost soul about to be mine again  
See her, you'll never free her  
You must surrender it all  
And give life to me again_

_Fire  
All you desire  
As she begins to turn cold and run out of time  
You will shiver  
Till you deliver  
You will remember it all  
Let it fill your mind again_

_Devon lies beyond this portal  
Take the word of one immortal  
Give your soul to me  
For eternity  
Release your life  
To begin another time with her  
End your grief with me  
There's another way  
Release your life  
Take your place inside the fire with her_

The crowd didn't like Siegfried's attitude, But when he played the solo to that song they went crazy.

_Give your soul to me  
for eternity  
Release your life  
to begin another time with her  
End your grief with me  
there's another way  
Release your life  
Take your place inside the fire with her_

_Devon  
One of Eleven  
who had been rendered unwhole.  
As a little child  
she was taken,  
and then forsaken  
you will remember it all  
let it fill your mind again_

The song ended with Cervantes doing his evil laugh again and Siegfried holding his head down. He didn't get along with Cervantes, but it was pretty cool that Cervantes did that for him.

-

Finally the gig was over… Siegfried didn't want to see any of the band mates now. He just wanted to get his gear into his seventies style van and go home. He didn't care about the band anymore.

He threw off his helmet, and left it on the floor as he walked out of the club. He didn't want to see that thing again. He was ready to retire from being the Azure Knight and be himself again.

-

He drove home listening to nothing but other cars, and when he arrived at the apartment complex where he lived he was glad he lived on the first floor because his amps were heavy, and wasn't in any mood to wait in an elevator.

As he reached the entrance to his apartment, he pulled out his keys from his left pocket and unlocked the door. From the sounds on the other side of the door, he could tell his roommate was watching a movie.

It was actually amazing he found someone who as willing to live with him and split the rent, since his guitar lessons didn't always cover everything.

And he saw her sitting on the couch watching some kind of movie, since the T.V. was facing. Hilde, his roommate was pretty much the sister he never had. She pretty much always cheered him up whenever he had a bad day, and right now he needed some cheering up.

"Rough gig?" She asked him as he put down his guitar and effects board next to his amps that was next to the door.

"I left the band." Siegfried said plainly walking to the couch. He had to admit, she looked cozy just sitting there in her blue pajamas. In fact, she looked so cozy he laid on the couch and used her as a pillow.

"Ah, Siegfried!" Hilde said caught in shock by him laying on her. "Did you notice I had a bowl of salsa on my lap?"

He actually didn't notice. "I'll wash it out in the morning." He said looking at the T.V. ignoring the fact that he had salsa in his hair.

"Now I have nothing to eat. Thanks a lot." She said with sarcasm in her thanks. But, now she noticed that he was telling the truth when he said he quit Nightmare. "You really left that band?"

"Yeah, I was getting sick of everything." He said still looking at the T.V. He now knew that she was watching an old black and white movie but still didn't know which one. They had a lot. "I was especially sick of the way I as acting. I just need to retire from music now and just get my life back in order."

Hilde was a little shocked by that remark. Music can affect the way people act, and what he was doing in Nightmare was no exception. "You shouldn't retire from music in general, just retire from metal and search for a new genre. You know what I listen to and what I play along to on my bass. Does it make you feel angry in any way?"

"Not really, but right now I just-"

"This really doesn't sound like you, Siegfried." Hilde said interrupting him. "What happened to the Siegfried Schtauffen Way?"

"I actually told you about that?" Siegfried didn't even remember telling her about that little thing.

"You told me the first day I moved in." She looked down on him with her red hair getting in her face. "It's your choice, but you know yourself better than anyone else. Do you think you can really leave music after being in it for so long?" She had to ask him that, because she wasn't sure if he asked himself that question first.

"…" He had to put some thought into that. He never really thought about how hard it would be. "I just need to get rid of some stuff that reminded me of my life back then so I could move on easier. Starting with my guitar and amps." He said looking up and smiling at her. For some reason that was the best he could come up with.

"If you think it'll work…" Hilde just decided to give up and just smiled back. She just couldn't get it through to him tonight since he was obviously tired. "But let's keep your effects okay?"

"Why?" He said looking back at the movie finally noticing that it was Frankenstein.

"I want to use it and see if it'll work with my bass." She said truthfully. It was something she was curious about for quite some time now, since she didn't have any bass effects.

Siegfried thought it was cool that she did play bass when she first moved in because the would jam to some different songs at time, but now it was going to be a problem since he was trying to get music out of his system.

End of Prequel

-

Summery: Yes, it's a Soul Calibur AU and yes Siegfried really is a lefty. I'm a lefty, I notice this stuff pretty easily and he may be using a two handed sword, but he puts more force into his left than his right if no one has ever noticed. That is a sure sign of a lefty. You can notice the same thing with Nightmare.

The song I used was Inside the Fire from Disturbed, and I have no legal rights to it.

Siegfried's guitar students will be revealed in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 1

Redemption

Redemption

Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur and never will.

-

Chapter 1: A Different Angle

Siegfried woke up on the couch like he usually did. There only was one bedroom in the apartment and Hilde needed her privacy. Okay, that wasn't the reason he gave her the room, she won it in a coin toss. The fact is; he's been sleeping on the couch since she moved in.

He walked over to the bathroom remembering the salsa that was still in his hair and needed to wash it out before it started to stink. He also needed to clean up because he not only planned to sell his gear from Nightmare today, but he also had to give guitar lessons today.

Anyways, he walked into the bathroom with a white towel and a change of clothes and shut the door behind him.

-

He walked out wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans, still drying off his hair with the towel. He didn't remember the last time he had his hair cut and he was probably due for one any day now since his hair was down to his waist.

He walked over to the kitchen and noticed that he had a message on the answer machine. He pushed play and noticed that it was Hilde.

"_Hey Siegfried, I know you must still be asleep, but I'm letting you know that I'll be home later than usual. I've got a date tonight so you're on your own for dinner. Bye" _

Of course, that was there way of letting each other know what was going on. It was better than notes, because when they tried notes they couldn't always find them. So, just leaving messages on the phone was better because they always knew where that was.

'Hm, what time is it any ways?' he wondered to himself looking at the clock on the microwave. "9:28 a.m. wow! That's a little early for me.' He thought to himself. That was a little early for him on account that he was usually awake at nine thirty. But, considering the time he went to sleep he got a good seven or eight hours of sleep.

Well, he figured now was the time he should eat some breakfast before he did everything else so he would have enough energy to get through the day. So, he grabbed himself a bowl from one of the cabinets and a box of random cereal from another cabinet.

-

It was now around 2:30 p.m. … Siegfried just got back from selling his guitar and amps. He had to admit, he was expecting to get more money for them, but his guitar was a new 2008 model and it was a lefty model. Those can't be very high on demand. But, money wasn't his reason for selling them anyways.

Now he needed to tune his acoustic and get ready for his students. He walked over to the back of the living room where an acoustic guitar was sitting in its case. He laid it down and opened the case to reveal his Natural colored Ovation L777 lefty acoustic electric guitar.

He remembered getting it after joining Nightmare to practice with, and it has been a favorite of his. Sadly he never used it on stage. Ah, he shouldn't be thinking of stuff like that. He had more important stuff to think about.

He started tuning it using the electronics on the guitar, since he wasn't all that great at tuning by ear. Last time he tried it by ear, his standard tuning was drop D, a little off, but he decided to stick with using tuners from then on.

As he finished tuning his guitar he heard a knock at the door and figured that it was one of his students. He opened the door and saw a younger girl with the top of her dark hair covered by a green beanie hat carrying her acoustic guitar in a gig bag and dressed in a green tank top, white jean shorts, and brown sandals.

"Hey Talim, you're a little early." Siegfried said to his fifteen year old student.

"I know." She said to him. "My grandmother had to go to a thing for church so it was either come early or miss my lesson." He knew she was somewhat religious, just not as religious as her grandmother. Heck, he remembered when his grandmother tried to convert him to there religion, that was the scariest day of his life.

"I see… Then we should get you set up then until the time comes." Siegfried said as he stood away from the door and let her into his apartment. "So, how have you been?" He asked her out of his own curiosity.

"I've been okay, same old thing going on. What about you?" She asked him looking back at him. "I heard you left Nightmare from a pretty reliable source."

"Amy?" He asked her knowing her and Raphael's daughter keep in touch since he teaches them both guitar.

"Yeah, she told me." She replied to his question. "She also told me that you're retiring from music."

This seemed to be a big shock for everyone around Siegfried. "Why is everyone so confused about this? Yes, I'm retiring from music. I just sold my electric guitar and amps before you got here, Talim." Siegfried pulled out a chair for Talim to sit in while he sat down on his couch.

"You know …" Talim starting as she sat down on the couch. "Retiring completely might not be the best thing for you. Maybe you should just adjust to something else." She said as she opened her gig bag and picked up her Yamaha F310 acoustic guitar and putting it on her lap. It wasn't the best guitar, but she was just a beginner. "For starters, you've been doing metal for seven years, right?"

"… Right." He still wasn't sure where she was going with this, but she was a pretty girl, so he figured she knew what she was talking about.

"So, maybe metal wasn't your way." Talim said making a pretty good point. "Metal is for some people, like Classical is for me and Grunge is for Amy. You just need to find what works the best with the Siegfried Schtauffen Way."

"How many people did I tell that to?" He was starting to wonder if he made it a public announcement or something like that.

"As far as I know you told me, Amy, and her dad." Talim explained plainly.

"Oh… I see." He knew he didn't tell too many people about the Siegfried Schtauffen Way. He just didn't remember everyone he told. "Well, enough chit-chat, lets get on with our lesson, shall we?"

"Yes lets, you still need to teach me the rest of Beethoven's sixth symphony…" She said reminded him of his last week promise. Obviously she was a very classical kind of girl, even though she was friends with people who liked different stuff.

-

The lesson ending with Talim getting the rest of the song she wanted written down on paper, so she could practice it on her own. She wasn't perfect; she needed time to work on songs. After all, she was a beginner.

Now he had another lesson to teach and then he was done. He was now sitting at his kitchen table, looking through the newspaper for any job that he could do, but sadly he didn't meet any of the qualifications. He didn't have a college education, good people skills, or any computer skills, and so far those were all requirements. Everyone was right, all he knew was music. Wow, he was seriously screwed if he was serious about retiring from music.

Just then the door knocked and Siegfried quickly put down the newspaper. He remembered his second lesson and left his guitar out just for that.

He walked over to the door and saw two people. One person was Raphael, except he was in a business suit with a green tie, not in his band apparel, and the one standing next to him was a girl younger than Talim with her red hair tied into two pig tails and wearing a black, long sleeve shirt and tight jeans. He also noticed that she was carrying her electric guitar in a hard shell case and a Marshall MC15CDR combo amp.

"Hey Siegfried, I thought I'd say hi while dropping off Amy this time since we didn't talk after last night's show." Raphael said looking at his friend.

"Yeah, I wasn't in much of a mood to talk after that show." Siegfried explained calmly. "I just wanted to leave."

"I can't blame you." Raphael said agreeing with him. "By the way, Cervantes is hosting auditions to replace you."

"Any possibilities?" Siegfried asked not really caring.

"Not really, no one can play our songs the same way you could so far." Raphael said plainly. "But hey I did switch over to a new bass. I'll tell you about that later. Right now you have a lesson to teach."

"Yes," Siegfried said looking from Raphael to Amy. "You ready?"

"… Yes." Amy said walking into the apartment. She never did talk much. As long as Siegfried knew her, she was always the quiet type. "… Are you really quitting music?"

That had to be one of the longest sentences she ever said to him. "I was serious about it, but know I'm not sure." He said sitting down on his couch and grabbed his acoustic as she sat down on the chair Talim was sitting in before.

"Why?" There she was, back to single word sentences.

"Because music is all I know." Siegfried explained as he saw her plug her amp into an outlet. "I mean I've been doing it for seven years. I haven't been doing anything else since then."

"… Have you tried something other than quitting?" Amy asked him using the term 'quit' instead of 'retire'.

"No, but something Talim said made me want to rethink it." Siegfried said as Amy opened her guitar case and pulled out her black colored lefty Fender Standard Stratocaster. That was one cool thing about her; she was left handed like he was so it didn't make him feel so weird when he was teaching her.

"… What did she say?" Amy said to him full of curiosity.

"She said I should try doing another genre or something." He said putting it in his own terms.

Amy didn't reply at first; because she was too busy connecting her guitar to her amp with a cable. When she was done she looked at him and said only two words. "She's right."

Those weren't much for words, but it made Siegfried realize something. He really can't leave music behind. It was his hobby, his job, and it was what he was teaching to these kids. "Enough talk on the subject. How are you doing on Drain You from Nirvana?" As Talim said earlier, Amy was a fan of Grunge, so Siegfried did give her some songs from bands like Nirvana to work on.

-

That lesson also ended pretty well, but Amy didn't talk much after Siegfried changed the subject of him getting shaky about retiring from music. As he sat there just strumming cords on his guitar he was just thinking on what he as going to do.

He just couldn't retire and get a normal job; it's been way too long. Music is only thing he knows. The best way for him to think was with music playing, so he put down his guitar and walked over to his stereo that was sitting next to the T.V.

It was nothing special, just a five disc holder with two speakers, nothing else. Heck, he even got it at a garage sale, it was that plain.

Any ways, all he did was turn it on and it suddenly played a song that was familiar to him. It must've been one of Hilde's CDs because he didn't have a CD with this song.

The song was Come Again from the band Staind. He remembered it from when he was younger. It wasn't his favorite, so he skipped it. Now the next one really hit him. It was Staind again, but it was the song Mudshovel, one of there biggest hits. He remembered that he and Hilde kept the cases to the CD's in the stereo next to it, so he looked for the CD case to know what CD this was.

He found it under the other cases. The CD was Staind's Singles 1996-2006. Was this the type of music Hilde always listened to? He didn't really pay attention before, but know he was paying full attention.

-

As he listened to it some more he was amazed by this band. From songs that made him want to head bang to the song until it was over to songs that had a soft acoustic guitar. What genre was this? He had to find out, because this was his key, this genre was what worked for him. This matched the Siegfried Schtauffen Way!!

"Why wasn't I paying attention before?" He wondered as he sat down on the couch next to his guitar.

Now it was the last song on the CD, a live cover on Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. He was still amazed by these guys and this genre of music. He was definitely asking Hilde about this when she got home.

Shockingly to him, she just walked into the door. "I'm home early. My date turned out to be another loser." Hilde explained wearing a dark blue tank top and dark jeans.

"You seem to be a loser magnet, huh?" Siegfried said jokingly.

"Shut up." She said to him as she walked towards him. It didn't take long for her to notice that he was listening to her CD. "Why are you listening to Staind?"

"What's their genre?" He asked her out of nowhere

She didn't really know where he was going with this, but she figured she tell him anyways. "They're Alternative Hardcore Rock, why?"

'That's a mouthful." He thought to himself, but now he knew. "This is what you listen to often, right?" He asked her.

"You weren't paying attention before were you?" Hilde asked him.

He just shook his head meaning 'no'.

"Yes, why are you so hooked up on this all of a sudden?" She was really getting confused by him right now.

"It's something Talim told me." Siegfried said smiling. "It's not music itself, I was just going in the wrong direction." He looked at his roommate and noticed that she still didn't understand what he was saying. "I'm not retiring from music. I'm getting another band together."

She smiled at him, but there was one little problem. "What about your gear?" She asked him, but he didn't seem to have a problem.

"Well, you still have my effects, and I have the money to buy new stuff." Siegfried explained. "I just need to find to the right stuff."

"Well, I play a Schecter bass and they make guitars too." Hilde said to him catching his attention. "The good news is that they make a bunch of their models left handed. I could take you to my favorite store tomorrow if you want."

"I want you to." He said jumping up. "Please!"

"Alright, I will. In exchange for me at least trying out for your band." Hilde said trying to make a deal with him.

"Deal." He said sitting back down and grabbing his guitar.

"Good, now let's go get some dinner, I'm hungry." Hilde said walking into the kitchen.

"I'm coming." He said as he walked over to the case of his Ovation guitar and put his guitar back in it. Right now, he was happier than the day he joined Nightmare, because not only will he might be in a band with his roommate, but he found the genre that works for him.

End of Chapter 1

-

Author's Note: This wasn't the main part of the story, keep that in mind. I'm not rushing. The main part of the story is him working with his new band. Yes, Amy is also a lefty. She holds her rapier in her left hand. Siegfried found the genre of his choice, but who else shares his desire other than Hilde? Find out in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

Redemption

Redemption

Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur and never will.

-

Chapter 2: New Gear, New Look, New Start

As Siegfried and Hilde drove in his van they listened to another one of her CDs. The strange thing was; he didn't know the band he was listening to as she drove. They must've been knew or something, but they sounded a little bit like Staind, except for they didn't use as much distortion and the vocalist was different.

"Who are these guys?" Siegfried asked Hilde referring to the band.

"This band? They're called Cold." Hilde explained as she kept her eyes on the road. "I just got into their newer stuff because they started out as more Nu Metal then switched over to Alternative Hardcore Rock."

"That's a good call." He said nodding his head. Even after all his time doing Metal, he could never get into Nu Metal, although Raphael was a big fan of Korn.

"Come to think of it… You're doing the same thing." Hilde said confusing Siegfried a little. "You weren't playing Nu Metal, but it was still Metal and now you're going with me to get new gear to start a new genre."

She was right, but there was a difference. "The difference is that I'm starting from square one." He said looking out the window and noticing they were heading towards Seattle, the biggest city that was closest to them. "Wait! Why are we going to Seattle?"

"That's where my store of choice is, why?" Hilde asked him.

'I thought I told her I don't like the city.' He thought to himself. To be honest, he was terrified of any big city. He knew though he would have to get over his fear eventually in order to fulfill his dream. "It's nothing…" He said to her nervously.

As he saw the large buildings and all the people walking around, on thing popped into his mind. 'Holy Crap! This is going to be hard!' He really didn't like the city. He lived outside Seattle for a reason.

Okay, he needed to think of something else before he got car sick… He looked over at Hilde and noticed that she dressed almost the same way he did. The difference was she wore red shirts that almost matched her hair and her jeans were only faded, not ripped like his were. 'Come to think of it, was she even wearing a bra- Whoa!? Back up! What am I thinking?!' He couldn't think stuff like that about Hilde!

It wasn't that she wasn't attractive. It was the fact that she was practically his sister. His recent thought just sent a shiver down his spine. Right now, he'd rather be car sick.

-

They reached the shopped and Siegfried saw that it wasn't a big store, so he felt a little better, but he still didn't like the sight of everything else.

"I know you don't like the sight of the city, but you can deal with it for a little bit right?" Hilde said remembering that he told her about his fear of the city. "I could tell you wear shivering from the sight of all this." Well, that's what she thought he was shivering from. Too bad she was way off on that one.

But, he was never going to tell her why he shivered. "…Yeah." He said agreeing with her and lying at the same time.

"Whatever follow me, Siegfried." Hilde said rolling her eyes.

As they walked into the store… Siegfried noticed a lot of guitars, basses, and even amps he didn't recognize. He wasn't shallow with gear or anything, he just mainly focused on gear that only worked for Metal back then, and now he was going for something a little more flexible.

"Hilde!" said the blonde girl at the register who was wearing a blue tank top and a pair of jeans. "It's been awhile. You're Schecter and Genz-Benz working?"

"They're both working fine, Lynette." Hilde said to the girl calling her by her name. "I'm still a happy customer. That's actually why I'm here." She looked over at Siegfried who was just eyeing a bunch of different guitars. "You have any lefty Schecter guitars? My friend is looking to make a purchase today."

Hilde noticed that Lynette was thinking that over and looking at the guitars. "Hmm… I think the only one I've got is the baritone."

"I'll ask him about it then." Hilde said walking away from Lynette and towards Siegfried. "Hey, Siegfried?"

Siegfried though was ignoring Hilde, because he was intrigued by all the different guitars. Hollow bodies, solid bodies, V-shapes, explorers, they were all something to be admired.

"Siegfried!!" It was a little embarrassing that she had to yell to catch his attention.

"Yeah, what?" He asked looking at her with full attention now.

"They only have lefty from Schecter and it's a baritone. You still want to try it out?" She wasn't sure if he even knew about baritone guitars or not, so she just wanted to check with him before looking for it.

"Yeah, I want to check it out. There is no difference except neck length and tuning." He didn't know many brands of guitars, but he knew a lot about guitars and their parts. "I think I know where it is too."

It was a lefty, so it wasn't that hard to find. All he had to do as see if it the electronics were on the opposite side. There it was, with the word 'Schecter' on the headstock in plain view. He also noticed that it was gloss black colored, and a double cut solid body. All in all, it was a beautiful guitar.

He picked it up and started strumming it a few times and could tell it was really in tune.

"It's the Schecter C-1 EX Baritone Blackjack." Hilde said to him referring to the guitar's name.

'Another mouth full.' Siegfried thought to himself. But, he didn't care, he really liked it as he switched from strumming to finger picking. He didn't even care that it didn't have tremolo like his older models did. "I want to hear this guitar in an amp."

"The VHT Pittbull Fifty CL amp half stack is plugged in." Lynette said over hearing Siegfried and Hilde and catching their attention. "You want a cable and a pick?"

"Sure, thanks." Siegfried said finishing his finger picking on the guitar. "I use medium point six picks." He told her referring to the size of the guitar pick that he uses. The mediums always seemed to give him a well balance for rhythm and soloing, so it was common since for him to use them.

"Alright, no problem." Lynette said grabbing a cable and a pick for Siegfried to use to play the guitar. She was smiling the entire time she handed him the pick and the cable. It seemed she was really anxious to hear him play. "Just plug it up and turn it on." She told him referring to the amp.

He turned it on and as he strummed a few chords on the Schecter, he was really impressed by how low of a tone he was getting from this guitar. It really was no wonder some people play baritone guitars and it was exactly what he wanted.

It wasn't just the guitar though. He really liked the amp head he was using at that time. As he turned the knobs around a bit, he noticed the versatility it had and how amazing it sounded. 'The VHT Pittbull Fifty CL…' He thought looking at the price tag for the amp head and then at the price tag for the 4x12 cabinet that went with it. 'I wonder if I can get two cabinets with the head.'

He looked at the price tag for the guitar too. Hm, he had more than enough from selling his old gear, perfect. "Hey, Excuse me, but can I get another cabinet with this half stack." He asked the girl Hilde called Lynette.

"Yeah, no problem, we've got another in storage that could with them." Lynette explained to him smiling. "Are you planning on making a purchase today then?"

"Yes." Siegfried said standing up with the Schecter C-1 EX Baritone Blackjack in his right hand. "The VHT Pittbull Fifty CL amp head with two 4x12 cabinets and this Schecter guitar, that's it."

Lynette and Hilde both just stared at him with shock. Hilde was shocked at the fact that he was really going to buy both a guitar and an amp. Lynette was shocked that he would be carrying that much money. "Are you serious?" Lynette asked him. Hilde was just quiet waiting for Siegfried's next move.

"Yes, I can pay for it all right now." Siegfried explained to her as he pulled out his wallet. "Oh, and I want a hard shell case for the Schecter."

"That comes free!!" Lynette explained to him. It came in with the guitar, so they decided not to charge extra for the guitar. "Thank you very much for your purchases!" She said with a big smile.

It seemed to Siegfried that it's been awhile since they that store had such a big order. He figured that because she was extremely happy after she was shocked.

-

As they drove out of Seattle… Siegfried felt pretty good about his new gear. Even though he used hundred watt amp heads before and his new one had fifty watts, it still had just as much of a punch.

Hilde still couldn't believe he bought all that in one stop. "I'm glad you found the right gear, but did you have to do that?" Hilde asked him still looking at the road as she drove. "Seriously, she's going to tell her sisters and they might expect you to go back and buy more. It happened to me." She remembered it happening shortly after she got her bass and amps from that store.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered." Said Siegfried calmly. "I could just buy my strings and picks from them from now on to keep them off my back." That's how he kept most guitar shops from the past from bugging him.

"That might work…" Hilde had her doubts, but she never heard Siegfried get calls from a guitar store like she has gotten about any updated items that she would be interested in like they did to her. "So what are we going to do now?"

"Well, if you're still interested in joining the band, I need to see what you can do." Siegfried said to his roommate and best friend. He turned around from looking at his new gear to look at her. This time being serious and not like last time. "Then we need to set up a few posters around town in order to find a drummer and probably another guitarist." He thought another guitarist would be a good idea for the band since most bands that were in the Alternative Hardcore Rock genre had two guitarists and he was limited on what he could do as far as guitar playing.

"What about a vocalist?" Hilde had to ask because he failed to mention that they needed a vocalist. "Hate to say it, but neither of us have the vocal range for a lead singer position." She said thinking it would be best to remind him that. It wasn't that they couldn't sing; they just didn't have much of a range for a lead. They were best off doing back up or not singing at all.

"Don't worry, I know someone." Siegfried explained calmly looking out the window. "An old friend I was planning on getting back into touch with anyways." He was planning on getting back in touch with this person after he left Nightmare because he's been friends with that person since high school and they lost contact because of his attitude in Nightmare.

"… I'll take your word for it, but let's do one more thing." Hilde said grabbing a bit of his hair with her right hand. "We should cut this." She did have a license in cosmetology, so she could cut his hair down to any style he wanted.

"I was hoping you could cut it soon, if you weren't busy." He said getting his hair back from her grip. "Maybe you could cut it down to a style that could still cover my eyes, but not be down past my neck."

"… I've got just the style for you."

-

Even thought he was used to having long hair, he was relieved to have it cut short and Hilde gave him the perfect haircut in his opinion. She cut the top down a little past his ears and the rest of it shorter than that, so it was still a little in his face, but he felt lighter than ever. After losing all that hair, he felt twenty pounds lighter. (AN: SC4 2P outfit haircut in case you were confused.)

Hilde had to admit that he looked better with shorter hair. Heck, she was now wondering why she didn't cut his hair earlier. But, now was the time to for her to try out for his new band, and now was the perfect time to get his attention as he sat on the couch playing his new Schecter C-1 EX Baritone Blackjack through his effects board and his new VHT amps.

"Hey Siegfried," Hilde said sitting by her door getting his attention. "I would like to try out now if you're available."

Siegfried was personally waiting for her to ask him about that. He was going to ask her himself, but he wanted to her what his new guitar would sound like with some effects to it. "Alright, let's hear it." He said putting his guitar in its case and standing up.

"Wait here." Hilde said with a smirk as she walked into her room. She never let him into her room, for some weird reason. She just seemed to like her privacy more than he did. Whatever her reason, he didn't have to wait long for her to return with her bass and a six by ten amp cabinet with an amp head on top.

"Tell me about your gear." Siegfried said out of curiosity, because he's never seen either bass or amp set before.

"Well, my bass is a Schecter 004 series, natural color and with a rosewood fretboard." She said giving him a full view of her bass. "It has an Ash body and a bolt on neck, so it feels like a Fender. The pickups on it though are Schecter Active/Passive humbuckers, so it gives a darker, more modern rock sound than a Fender." She finished giving him the full explanation on her bass. "And this is a Genz Benz GBE 1200 bass amp head," She said tapping her amp head. "And I play it through my Genz Benz GB 610T-XB2 cabinet."

"Okay, explain how you play it then." Siegfried was also curious about the way she played bass too, because Raphael finger picked and he knew someone else at one point in his life that used picks on bass like he did on guitar.

"Well," She said pulling a pick out of her pocket. "I use a heavy one millimeter pick. I gives me a heavier tone than if I use my fingers and it works well with Alternative Hardcore Rock." She mentioned that to convince him to give her a chance to try.

He was convinced though, by her gear and her style. "Alright, what song are you going to play?"

"I'm going to do the bass solo in the verse of Self-Esteem from the Offspring." Hilde said catching Siegfried off guard. The Offspring was a punk band, but that was a good bass riff.

As she played it, Siegfried was shocked by her accuracy and the way everything sounded. She was really an amazing bassist.

When she finished she saw his reaction and smiled at him. "I know I used a punk song, but am I in?"

"You are in!" Siegfried replied to her. "The only bassist as good as you is Raphael." She and Raphael had different styles, but when it came to level of rhythm, they were equals.

"Well, I'm honored to finally start a band with you." She smiled and moved her bass back over to her side. Now one more thing bothered her… "How are we going to find other members?"

"I'll call my old friend tonight." Siegfried said standing up, but no longer smiling. "I'm not sure about other members."

"…" Suddenly Hilde had an idea. "I'll set up some posters around town with own phone number and I'll put something up on my Myspace page."

"What the hell could we get through Myspace?!" Siegfried personally never liked Myspace, or any of those social websites. He just found those kinds of things as a waste of time.

"I've got friends who can pass it on and friends I don't even know in real life." Hilde explained to him on how it could work. "You should get a page and find out how it really works."

"For starters, you have the only computer in the apartment." Siegfried explained. She had a laptop that she kept in her room for work, but she never let Siegfried use it for anything in fear that he'll download porn or something. "Second of all, I hate social websites, you know that."

"Point well taken…" Hilde said in defeat. There really was no winning an argument when it came to Siegfried. "But, you call your friend and I'll take care of the rest." She finished talking to him and walked back into her room to put her gear away.

"Alright, I will."

-

Shortly after… Hilde left with a flyer with there phone number and was going to the library to get it copied and hang them up around town. Luckily it didn't have neither his nor her name on it, because it could raise suspision about him, because some even some fans knew his name when he was in Nightmare.

He decided that now was the time to call his old friend since Hilde was gone. He grabbed the phone and dialed a numbered that he hoped was the right number. 'I hope she still lives there.' He thought putting the phone up to his ear.

He wanted to contact her as soon as he left the band anyways because he regretted losing his friendship with her more than anything, and the band was another reason to contact her. He remembered her singing in high school and she had a better voice than anyone else he knew.

As the phone rang he sat at his kitchen table and waited, hoping that she or someone close to her would pick up the phone. _"Hello?"_ said a man on the other line.

Siegfried was a little caught off guard, but decided to ask for her anyway. "Hi, I'm look for Sophitia, is she there?"

"_This is her husband. May I ask who this is?" _Th man on the other line answered.

Her husband? Well Siegfried knew she would get married eventually. "This is and old friend of hers. My name's Siegfried."

"…_I'll see if she wants to talk to you." _The man said calmly.

Siegfried started tapping on his table as he waited, but he heard someone speaking on the other side. It was that man and a woman. _"Honey, there's a man on the phone for you. He says his name is Siegfried and…"_

"_What?! Siegfried?! Give me that phone!!" _He heard someone grabbing the phone or something similar to that as the woman said that. _"Hello?! Siegfried?"_

"Sophitia? Yes, this is Siegfried." He said with a smile. "It's been a long time hasn't it. I want to apologize before anything else, and I left Nightmare."

"_I've been waiting for you to cal land tell that you left that demonic band for years." _She said on the other line. _"It's okay, God teaching his children to forgive others for he would do the same thing."_

"You're still as religious as you were in High School. You still collect dolls of Greek Gods." He said jokingly.

"_Hahaha, no." _She said really laughing. _"But, hey you want to get together tomorrow and meet my husband and kids."_

"You have kids?" Siegfried asked in shock. She wasn't that much older than he was.

"_Yes, don't worry their still very young." _She replied cheerfully to him. _"You want to come by at around three?"_

"Three sounds good." He said as his grin grew.

"_I'll see you then, bye." _

"Bye." He said before he heard her hang up. He hung his phone as tears of joy flowed down his face. She forgave him and she was more than happy to get back into touch with him. The relief that came to him was unimaginable, because it's been five years since he ruined his friendship with her and she was able to forgive him after all that time has passed.

But, he knew not to ask her about the band just yet. He still needed to catch up with her and set things straight. If he rushed it, it could've left her thinking he was still part of his past life and didn't want anything to do with him.

Now all he had to do was wait for Hilde to return home from hanging up the flyers and see what happens next. But, he didn't expect the phone to ring out of no where and since it was right in front of him, he quickly whipped the tears from his face and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"_Hello? I'm calling about this flyer that's right in front of my face right now?" _A male voice on the other line said to him.

Wow, Hilde was face at putting those things up. "So, you're interested in joining the band?"

"_Oh, not for me, for a friend of mine, he was too shy to call so I called for him." _

What? Why would Siegfried let his friend in the band if he can't even call by himself? "Well, what instrument does he play?" Siegfried might as well find out, just incase he could use him.

"_He plays drums, and just because he couldn't call you himself doesn't mean he's not a good drummer. He's just not very social."_

"… Okay and what's his name?"

"_His name's Kilik." _That namesounded Chinese or something to Siegfried. _"His parents were from China, but he doesn't have the accent, I promise. He's been through voice therapy."_

"Is he close by, by any chance?" Siegfried wanted to talk to this Kilik person face to face, just to make sure he really wanted to be in the band.

"_Yeah, he's right next to me." _The man on the other line said with curiosity in his voice. _"Why, you want to talk to him?"_

"Yes, put him on the phone." Siegfried said calmly.

"_Sure, just wait a second." _The man said before Siegfried heard some arguing on the other line between him and other man that was most likely Kilik. _"Maxi I can't…" "You want to try out for this band right?" "… Right." "Then take the goddamn phone and talk to this guy!" _Siegfried figure Kilik gave in to the other man that was apparently named Maxi and took the phone from him because he heard some one moving the phone around. _"Hello… This is Kilik. I'm sorry about that, Maxi can be a little pushy at times." _He said shyly to on the other line.

From the sound of things, this guy needed to get out more. "I just need to know one thing." Siegfried started. "I just need to know if you really want to become part of this band and are willing to commit to it at all times."

"… _Yes, of course I am." _

Siegfried decided to just give this guy a chance. He seemed nice and he might be a good drummer, even if he isn't social.

"My address is on the flyer. Write it down and come by at around noon for a try out." Siegfried said calmly to Kilik.

"_Thank you for giving me this chance." _Kilik said to him. _"I hope to not disappoint you." _With that Kilik hung up the phone on the other line.

Yep, that guy really needed to learn to socialize more. But Siegfried only cared about if he could beat on a drum set or not. They could take care of his social problem later.

-

Siegfried later explained everything that happened at home while Hilde was away shortly after she returned. She was actually amazed that someone responded that quickly and that his old friend was a woman.

"So, why do want her to be the vocalist?" Hilde said with confusion, as she sat next to him on the couch. She wasn't expecting to have a female vocalist in a genre like Alternative Hardcore Rock, even though it was done before.

"She sings better than anyone else I know." Siegfried explained to her. "I remember her in high school doing covers on songs from the eighties and nailing them every single time. She even did Welcome to the Jungle from Guns n' Roses." He remembered that well, because that was the day before he dropped out of high school.

"Not bad, but I'm curious about something. What did you do to ruin your friendship with her?" Hilde was curious because Siegfried never even mentioned Sophitia to her before.

"I don't mean to sound cold, but I don't want to talk about it." Siegfried said to her looking away as if he found something interesting on the wall.

"Fair enough, it's none of my business." Hilde said just before the phone started to ring. They didn't expect it to ring at that time even though it was only five thirty. None the less, Hilde went to answer it. "Hello… Yes this is the number on the flyer… A rhythm guitarist?... We have a lead guitarist already, you want to ask him about it?... Just a second then. Hey Siegfried." Hilde said moving away from the phone to get Siegfried's attention.

"Yes?"

"There's a kid on the phone who wants to try out for a guitarist. You want to talk to him?" Hilde asked him offering him the phone. She felt the need to ask him, since she didn't know if he wanted a back-up guitarist or not.

"I'll talk to him." Siegfried said taking the phone from her and putting it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Hi, for starters I'm eighteen, I'm not a kid." _Said the voice on the other side. _"Now, I was asking about the flyer and wondering if I could try out for at least a rhythm guitarist."_

"We have an opening." Siegfried said into the phone. "But first, what's your name?"

"_My name's Yun-seong, it's Korean. Yes, I had vocal therapy after my parents came into the country."_

Hm, another Asian trying out for the band. Siegfried had to admit he was surprised. "Okay, and do you really want to become part of this band and are willing to commit to it at all times?"

"_More than anything."_

So far Siegfried really liked this kid. He seemed to be social and wanted to really be part of this band. The only thing was he didn't like being called kid. "Alright, I'll give you a try out. Can you come by with your gear at around one?"

"_I'll be there, and thank you for this chance. Good-bye." _With that, the guy hung up on the other line.

Siegfried hung up his phone as well and was rather excited about tomorrow. Meeting two people that could join his band, and coming face to face with Sophitia after so long. All he could do was smile and wait for tomorrow as he laid down on his couch.

Sadly, he left Hilde confused. "What? What's going on? Siegfried?!"

"I'm just in a good mood." Siegfried said closing his eyes.

"Whatever. Don't forget, you have to pay for dinner tonight." Hilde said reminding him that it was his night to order take-out. She sat down and put his head on her lap like she always did when they were either watching a movie, or just relaxing.

"Thanks for reminding me." He said opening his eyes. "You just ruined my good mood."

End of Chapter 2

-

Author's Note: I was just bored with writing shorter chapters, so I decided to make this one longer than usual, even though the ending to it sucked. If you don't know much about guitar gear, VHT amps are expensive, that's why I went with a fifty watt head instead of a hundred watt head, even though they both sound great. What gear does Kilik and Yun-seong use? What will Sophitia say about the band? Find out in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 3

Redemption

Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur and never will.

-

Chapter 3: All, But One

Siegfried's excitement never left him. That day he had two band auditions and he was seeing his old friend, Sophitia, so he barely got any sleep the night before due to his excitement. As he sat down at his table dressed in his attire of a black shirt and torn jeans, and eating a bowl of frosted corn flakes of some brand name, he was just getting ready. Heck, he got up at seven thirty a.m. which was abnormally early for him.

At noon, the guy named Kilik was coming over to try out to play drums in the band. Then at around one, Yun-seong was coming to try out with hopes of playing guitar in the band. Finally, He was seeing Sophitia at three to rekindle a friendship, and invite her to join his band. Now the time was eight forty, so he had a little time to spare as he finished his cereal, so he was more than happy to play his new guitar through his new amps while he waited.

As he took his cord and plugged his Schecter guitar into his VHT amps he started playing a song he just recently wrote and hoped to play in his new band… Too bad he forgot that that day was Sunday and Hilde was still asleep before he started playing.

He realized it when Hilde slammed her door opened and with her eyes staring at him through her messed up hair, he could tell she was on the verged of killing him. "Siegfried…" She said angrily to him still in her black pajamas. "It's Sunday!!!!"

What could he say to make it better? He had to think of something and fast. "… My bad." Not the best choice of words, and he could tell by the angry look on her face. "I forgot due to my excitement about today!" He said in fear that she would beat him to a pulp, because he wouldn't fight back because she was a woman.

She did remember everything that was going on involving the band and Sophitia, so she calmed down a little bit. "Alright, I'll let it slide this time. Just remember next time, okay?" She was also excited about today. She was actually surprised she slept for that long. "I'm going to go get ready to take a shower." She said walking towards the bathroom.

"Okay, Hilde. Oh and why did you call Yun-seong a kid? He's as old as you are." Siegfried asked his roommate. He thought that was weird because she was eighteen, the same age Yun-seong said he was.

"He sounded younger." Hilde replied looking back at Siegfried. "I thought he was younger than I was." With that she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Typical Hilde; jumped to conclusions about someone she met over the phone. She did the same thing to him. Thought he was in his early twenties (around twenty or twenty-one to be exact) when they spoke on the phone, well it was a close guess though because he was twenty-three when they first met.

Anyways, he still had plenty of time to practice his guitar while he waited for Kilik and Yun-seong to arrive for their auditions, so that's exactly what he did.

-

Time seemed to fly while he was playing his guitar, because shortly after he started, Hilde finished showering and joined him with her bass. And it didn't seem long after that that they heard a knock on the door.

"That must be Kilik." Siegfried said looking at the clock. It was almost noon, so he was a little early. But Siegfried saw two people when he opened the door, the first had medium brown hair and was wearing a black button up work shirt with a pair of faded jeans and work boots, while the other man had his black hair gelled up in a way that look somehow similar to Elvis Presley, except not as neat, and he was wearing a white leather vest over a black t-shirt along with a pair of white pants with black chains and black work boots.

He couldn't tell which one was Kilik since they both looked Asian, so he didn't really bother guessing. "Welcome, which one of you is Kilik?" He asked curiously.

"He's Kilik." The man with the gelled up hair said pointing to the other man. "I'm Maxi, we spoke on the phone." He held out his hand to Siegfried for him to shake it.

Siegfried grabbed his hand to shake it and noticed that the man that Maxi said was Kilik was looking around not really paying attention. 'That's right, he isn't very social.' Siegfried thought to himself remembering what Maxi told him on the phone.

When Siegfried and Maxi separated their hands, Siegfried turned his head to look at Kilik. "So you're Kilik, huh?"

"Huh? Yeah." Kilik said finally looking at him.

"Where are your drums?" Siegfried asked since he didn't expect him to just come here and not play.

"We've got them out in our car." Maxi answered for Kilik. "We just wanted to meet you first."

Well, at least they were excited about this; Siegfried was looking forward to this audition. "Well, go get you're drums and then we'll talk."

"That's fair enough." Kilik said looking away and walking over to a Volkswagen bus.

It amazed Siegfried how shy Kilik was; it was reminding him of Amy. If Kilik was a lefty like Amy that would just scare him.

"You'll have to forgive him." Maxi said rubbing his head meaning his embarrassed. "When I told you he's not very social, it was a bit of an exaggeration."

"I understand," Siegfried said almost smiling because of how pathetic Maxi was looking. "I teach guitar to a young girl the acts a lot like him." He had to mention Amy, because he couldn't help but think of that anti-social red head at that time.

"Cool," Maxi said looking back up at Siegfried. "I've got to help Kilik with his drums. He only brought part of his set, but it's still more than a hand full." Maxi left Siegfried with a wave of his left hand and walked to where Kilik was.

Siegfried just watched as the two friends pulled out what looked like a four piece drum set. Well, Maxi said he only brought part of his set, so that should only be his necessities for the try-out. He just left his thought as that and left the door open so they wouldn't have any trouble getting in with Kilik's drums.

Although, Hilde had a little problem with him leaving the door open. "Siegfried, The door?!" She said thinking he forgot or something.

"I left it open on purpose." He replied to her making her stare at him in shook. "Kilik and his friend are bringing in part of his drum set to try-out for the band." His explanation helped her to calm down and relax.

"Oh, good." She said with a sigh of relief. "I thought you forgot to shut the door again." She stood up from her spot on the couch on walked over into her room. "I'm going to make myself more presentable. If they ask, tell them I'll be out in a minute."

She looks fine though… He'll never understand the way women are, even by living with one. Well, Siegfried still has quit a ways to go before ever understanding what goes on in Hilde's or any woman's mind.

Aw well, when he saw Kilik with a snare and a tom drum, and Maxi behind him with a bass drum and a cymbal with a few stands, he forgot about his woman problems.

"I thought I just heard a woman's voice." Maxi said as he handed the bass drum to Kilik.

"Yeah, that was my roommate, Hilde." Siegfried said calmly standing up. "She's in her room getting dressed or something." He didn't really know what she meant by making herself more presentable. "Either way, she said she'll be out in a minute."

"Oh, I see…" Kilik said putting together his drum set. Siegfried noticed that it said Yamaha on the bass drum, so they must be the ones that make his drums of choice. Dang they make everything then. "Is she also in the band?"

"Yes, she plays bass." Siegfried replied thinking that that was the most he has heard Kilik say.

"Yeah, he has his moments where he remembers that he has a pair." Maxi said meaning it as a joke. "Anyways, I'm going to go move the car closer to the building. It was hard enough to get those drums here where it's parked now." Maxi said walking out of the apartment and shutting the door behind him and leaving Kilik and Siegfried alone.

"So, tell me a bit your drum set." Siegfried said trying to get Kilik to open up a little bit.

"Well…" Kilik said as he was putting his drum set together. "My drums are made by Yamaha, as you can tell by the logo on the bass drum… and I'm sorry, I'm really not used to doing this." He admitted just as Hilde entered the room with a different white shirt on. That was her way of being more presentable?

"Oh, so you're Kilik." Hilde said holding her right hand out to him. "I'm Hilde, Siegfried's roommate and the band's bassist."

"Oh…" He grabbed her right hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, back to where you guys were." She said sitting next to Siegfried on the couch.

"Well… Anyways, I use Evans drum heads to protect my drums from my sticks …" Kilik said trying to explain his drum set the best way he could as he place his drum heads on the snare and tom drums. "And all my cymbals are made by Zildjian. I only brought one, but I have a few at home and that's not including my double cymbal."

"Not a bad set up." Siegfried said, although he didn't know much about drums due to his lack of relationship with any drummers. "What about your music background?"

"Oh…" Kilik said thinking of something to say. "I play about everything thanks to my friendship with Maxi and love for Rock and Metal and my relationship with a girl named Xianghua and her love for Blues and Punk… So I've been able to learn all these drumming styles from bands from Metallica to Clapton to Jimmy Eat World."

Neither Siegfried nor Hilde expected that information, because he looked like a straight up rocker. "Not bad, we could use a versatile player. How about we test you in your skill now?"

"Alright… What do you want to hear?" Kilik asked before they heard a knock at the door.

Siegfried stood up from his set to go answer the door. "I'll go get it." He figured it was Maxi since he only left to move his van. His guess was correct, and there Maxi was holding a cushioned drumming stool and a drum pedal as he opened the door.

"We forgot these." Maxi said plainly as he welcomed himself into Siegfried's home. "Kilik can't play without these." He said placing the pedal behind the bass drum and the stool behind the entire drum kit. "Alright, you guys are ready." Of course, he didn't leave without noticing Hilde sitting on the couch and completely ignoring him. "Siegfried is that your roommate? Isn't she a little young?" Maxi just had to mention age…

Of course that angered Hilde, but she expressed it with words, not actions. "Watch it Elvis," She said making fun of his hair and looking right at him. "You're getting a little too close to the middle age era."

"Hey, I'm only twenty-eight!" Maxi said trying hard not to tackle the girl that made fun of his hair style.

"Hilde!" Siegfried said to Hilde letting her know that she went too far with the insults. "Can we get back to the try out?!" He asked sitting back on the couch. He never really liked having contention or any arguing around him. It just reminded him of how he was back in Nightmare.

"Whatever." Hilde said rolling her eyes and looking back at Kilik. "How about we play a song in the stereo, you listen to it first, then you try to play along with it when we play it again." It seemed like a good idea. She never auditioned a drummer before, so she didn't know how it really worked.

"Sounds like a good idea…" Kilik said shyly not sure about the song of choice.

Hilde thought for a moment, and then stood up from her spot on the couch. "You know the band Shinedown?" She asked him. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know them since they are a newer band.

"Yes." Kilik said sitting in his stool and pulling out a pair of drum sticks from his right boot.

Hilde was a little surprised to know that, but decided to let that thought pass and just go on with the try out. "I'm going to play their song, Devour. If you can play it right off the bat, go ahead."

She turned on the stereo and switched the CD drive. As the song started playing, Siegfried, Hilde, and Maxi all noticed that Kilik was playing along perfectly with the drums in the song. Although, it wasn't just the fact that he was matching the song, his eyes were closed the entire time and he kept a straight face while he played. Siegfried's jaw just dropped. Kilik may have social issues, but he was a great drummer and Siegfried wanted him in the band.

When the song ended, Kilik but his drum sticks back in his boot and opened his eyes. "How was that?" He asked calmly as if nothing has happened at all.

'How can he be so calm?' Hilde thought after seeing him play drums like he did.

"That was amazing!" Siegfried said quickly standing up from his seat in excitement.

"Well, I could do more… If I had my full drum set." Kilik said scratching the back of his head like he was nervous.

"You're in." Siegfried said causing the shy Kilik to stare at him in shock. "We need a drummer like you. You're versatile, talented, and you know a lot of different styles of music. We don't come across musicians like that everyday. You still up for it?"

"… Yes." Kilik said going back to his shy nature, but still sitting at his drums. "But, can I ask one question?"

"Go ahead." Siegfried replied out of curiosity since Kilik hasn't asked anything at all during the try out or the interview.

"Are we going to practice here?" Kilik asked standing up from his stool. "No offense, but this isn't a very big apartment."

Siegfried and Hilde turned and stared at each other. Neither of them thought about that. They usually did practice alone at their apartment all the time, but a full band was different. Not only was lack of room an issue, but the landlord and their neighbors could complain and have them kicked out of the apartment complex, then they'd really be in trouble.

"Well um…" Siegfried was at a loss of words this time. He really didn't know what to tell the drummer.

"Our house isn't far away." Maxi said out of nowhere as he sat on one of the kitchen chairs that he brought into the living room when no one was paying attention. "Kilik was going to bring up that you guys could practice there, since I'm busy with my band and Xianghua works during the day." He said a mouthful to let them know of not only his plans, but also the plans of someone else that Kilik also mentioned and seemed to live with them also.

"That is what I was going to say…" Kilik admitted. "Just in fewer words." He said as he continued to stand in behind his drums.

Siegfried and Hilde glanced at each other thinking the same thing. That would be perfect! "Thanks for letting us use your house." Hilde said with a smile and standing up from her spot on the couch. "Just keep in mind we like to practice long and hard."

"You know that came out wrong, right?" Maxi said thinking of something else.

-

The time has passed and Kilik and Maxi have finally left. Siegfried wanted to chat a little more with them, but Maxi was started to anger Hilde so they just exchanged phone numbers and Kilik told them their address for band practice when they're a full band.

Now the next thing was to wait for Yun-seong… Siegfried was a little excited to meet another guitarist, since he never played with a second guitarist in a band before. Back in Nightmare he was the only guitarist and he dubbed over some songs to make it sound like there were two guitarists.

When they heard a knock at the door, Siegfried rushed to answer it. When he first looked through the peak hole he was excited, but when he saw a teenager with spiked red hair, wearing black jean shorts and a white muscle shirt and black Converse shoes, his excitement slowly faded. But he saw the guitar case and combo amp, so this kid must be Yun-seong. He also saw he had some kind of Asian blood in him, so this must be the guy.

Siegfried opened the door and the young man looked right at him. "You must be Yun-seong." Siegfried said calmly with a slight smile. He really needed to work on smiling sometimes.

"Yep, you're Siegfried, right?" Yun-seong asked just out of curiosity. "The guy I spoke with one the phone?"

"Yeah, that's me." Siegfried said standing aside from the door way to let him in.

"Nice to meet you." Yun-seong said and walking into the apartment accepting Siegfried's invitation. Siegfried noticed that Yun-seong was looking around his apartment with interest. "This is a nice place."

"Yeah, you could say that." Siegfried said following Yun-seong into the living room. "Oh, there's an outlet for your amp behind the entertainment center." He said pointing to the entertainment center that held the television and everything that went with it.

"Oh, thanks." Yun-seong said putting down his combo amp and guitar case. "I couldn't bring my stack because there wasn't enough room in my car, but my combo is practically the same." He explained looking behind the entertainment center for the outlet.

Siegfried noticed that his combo amp was a Randall amp. "Is that a Randall MTS Combo?" Siegfried asked out of curiosity. He heard good things about them and if it really was one this kid might have a pretty good set up.

"Huh?" Yun-seong wasn't paying attention at first since he found the outlet and finished plugging his amp in. "Oh, yeah. That's the RM50CB amp. My amp head is also a fifty watt and it has the same modules and it's the same color. I just think Randall makes really nice amps."

"Not bad," Siegfried said sitting down. "What about your guitar?"

Yun-seong didn't say anything; instead he just opened his guitar case and pulled out his guitar. Siegfried noticed it was kind of a single cut body, with a gloss black color and gold hardware, but he noticed that it said Schecter on the headstock.

"Is that a…" Siegfried couldn't really believe that Yun-seong was also a Schecter player.

"This is a Schecter Tempest Custom." Yun-seong said smiling and putting a white strap on it. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"I'm more surprised that you play a Schecter guitar, because I play one too." Siegfried said pointing to his Schecter C-1 Baritone Blackjack that was sitting on its stand behind the couch. "Our bassist also plays a Schecter."

"Wow, talk about coincidence." Yun-seong said strapping his guitar around his neck. "So, that'll make this a Schecter band if I make the cut."

"Yeah, although, you're the only one that's called." Siegfried admitted as Hilde entered the room. "Oh, this is Hilde, our bassist and my roommate." Siegfried said introducing Hilde to Yun-seong.

"Hi." Hilde said kindly and sat next to Siegfried.

"Wait, aren't you the one who called me a kid." Yun-seong asked with suspicion.

Hilde felt a little bad about it since he was her age, and she liked his body too. "Yeah, my bad. You sounded younger on the phone."

"I get that a lot. I forgive you, this time." Yun-seong said being a little convinced, but not fully. "Anyways, you want to interview me first, or should I play first?" He asked both of them just confused and wondering if he should plug his guitar into his amp now or later.

"Tell us about your full rig, then your music background." Hilde said before Siegfried got the chance to answer. "After you can plug it you guitar into your amp and fire it up."

"Alright well…" Yun-seong said thinking of something to say. "This is my only guitar, my Schecter Tempest Custom, with Ernie Ball strings. I play it through Randall MTS amps. I brought my combo today, but I own a full stack with a fifty watt head and four by twelve cabinets, and with its famous changing modules I chose two that work for my specific sound." He said leaning down and pointing at his amp. "Since the fifty watt combo and head carries two modules, I chose the Plexi for all my clean tones. It gives me a good seventies and eighties rock sound and that is what I've been wanting for quit some time, and even some Marshall amps haven't been able to provide that for me. And I chose the Treadplate for all my heavier rock tones. It has a good distortion sound to it and it sounds great for soloing, and to finish my rig I have a Line 6 POD Live multi effects pedal that I use whenever I feel the need for a little delay or any other effect is needed."

"Not a bad set-up," Siegfried said nodding. He was impressed with this kid's gear. Okay, Siegfried thought of him as a kid, only because he was in his mid twenties. "So, what about your music background, Yun-seong?"

"Oh, where do I start?" Yun-seong had a look on his face that seemed like he was thinking. "Okay, well ever since I went to the orphanage-."

"Wait, you're an orphan?!?!" Hilde asked out loud full of shock. She never expected someone like him to be an orphan, he didn't act depressed or anything.

"Yes, my parent died when I was two." Yun-seong said with a straight face which amazed both Siegfried and Hilde. "Anyways, when I was seven the foster father their recommended that I learn to play a musical instrument, so I started learning classical guitar on a nylon string acoustic. Then, by the time I was twelve I was getting tired of classical and wanted to play rock. So, I was introduce to a man named Hwang who not only taught me to play rock and helped me get rid of my Korean accent, but he also got me my first electric guitar, which was a Epiphone Les Paul Special II with a practice amp."

"Hwang sounds like a nice guy." Hilde said interrupting Yun-seong again.

"Well, he was also from Korea and felt bad for me." Yun-seong explained. "Although the lessons were good, I was learning a lot of older songs from bands like The Cars, ACDC, and even The Beatles." He said the last part with a little distaste in his mouth. "I wanted to learn other stuff, music that was more distorted that I was into by the time I was fifteen, and when I asked him about bands like Soundgarden, he told me that it was hurtful to the ears and I was better off learning that on my own. So, with the money I had from working at a factory warehouse and all that, I was able to replace my guitar and amp and I quit those lessons, but I do jam with Hwang. And the rig I have is what I've been using since I was eighteen."

"Interesting…" Siegfried said really impressed by Yun-seong background. He went from classical, to classic rock, to just rock in general. A background that was very unlike Siegfried's, he just went straight from rock to metal.

Hilde wasn't surprised by most things, especially the fact that he work at a warehouse. He had the muscular body to prove it. Wait! What was she thinking? Oh, forget it. She can think that way; he wasn't a brother figure or anything like Siegfried. Well, that was thinking a little too far, nevermind.

"Okay, Yun-seong. What are you going to play?" Siegfried asked since they finished everything else in Yun-seong audition.

Yun-seong excitingly got his guitar cable from his guitar case. "Since I'm trying out for rhythm, I decided to do a more rhythm base song." He said plugging the cable into his guitar and then into his combo amp. "I'm going to play Last Resort from Papa Roach." He said pulling a pick out of his pocket. "Oh, I forgot to mention, I used medium point six picks. They are very even picks and they don't break or wear out as often."

"I use the same size picks." Siegfried said thinking that it was quit the coincidence that he came in.

But Yun-seong ignored his comment as he started playing the opened riff to Last Resort. Siegfried was amazed by how solid Yun-seong's playing was. It seemed like he wasn't playing attention to anything else going on at that moment. Hilde listened the entire time as well and they both knew that he was just what they needed. With a glance at each other and a nod, they showed that they really did agree.

"Alright, you can stop." Siegfried said to Yun-seong knowing that he already played the parts that were going to be repeated.

Yun-seong did stop after hearing that, even though Hilde expected him to continue. "So, how did I do?"

"You're in." Siegfried said standing up. "Do you have any questions?"

"I have two actually," Yun-seong said turning off his amp. "The first one is if we're practicing here?"

Why did Siegfried have a feeling he would ask that? "Don't worry about that, our drummer have a place for us to practice." Siegfried said assuring Yun-seong. "We just need to know where your orphanage is."

"That involves the second question…" Yun-seong said lowering his head. "Since I'm eighteen, I've got six months to find a place to live or I'm going to live with Hwang out in Seattle…"

"You can stay here with us." Hilde said shock both Yun-seong and Siegfried.

"What!?!?!?" They both asked at the same time. Yun-seong excited, Siegfried wondering where Hilde was planning on putting him.

"Yeah, you could sleep on the floor until we get you at least a mattress, because the only room in here is mine and Siegfried sleeps on the couch." Hilde said explain their sleeping arrangements. "Really, we can't have a band member living in Seattle. Siegfried is terrified of big cities."

She had to mention his phobia of big cities. Of all things, she didn't mention it when Kilik and Maxi were there.

"Are you sure? I mean…" Yun-seong really wasn't sure how to take that invitation. "I'll need to get my amps and stuff."

"Siegfried's amps are right over there." Hilde said pointed at Siegfried VHT amp stack. "How about it?"

"Do I need to do anything? Really I can't cook or anything." Yun-seong said a little frightened at that time.

Siegfried decided he wasn't going to fight it and just go with it. "You just need to know how to clean up after yourself and pay at least part of the rent." He figured that was a fair deal. "We'll take care of all the food and stuff."

Well, Yun-seong couldn't fight back after that offer. "Alright, I guess I will."

Hilde was more than happy to welcome him with a hug. "Welcome to our home then."

Yun-seong on the other hand was a little confused on why she was hugging him.

-

After Yun-seong left to get the rest of his things… Siegfried felt the need to ask Hilde a few questions as the stool in there dining room/kitchen.

"Hilde, what was with the hug?" Siegfried felt the need to ask because she wouldn't let go of him after a minute.

"What? I can't hug guys?" Hilde said trying to act innocent.

"It's one thing to just hug and let go, it's another when you don't let go." Siegfried said reminding her even though he knew she remembered. "You also stared at him like he was a tenderloin steak or something."

"Okay fine, he was a total hotty!!" She admitted blushing in embarrassment. "I couldn't control myself! Did you see his arms?"

"I could see Hilde." Siegfried said shaking his head. "Just try to control yourself while he's living here, okay?" He said walking away towards the bathroom.

"You know you're not all purity yourself." Hilde said without the hint of embarrassment in her voice making Siegfried stop in his tracks. "I've seen you grab a girls butt before. Don't you dare deny it."

Good thing she couldn't see his face, because he went wide eyed to know that she saw him do that. He didn't even remember the last time he did that. Was it really that short while ago. Jeez, Hilde was like his sister. Reminded him of the worst moment at the worst time.

He had an hour and a half before going to see Sophitia, He wasn't ready yet! He had to change his clothes and clean up a bit. This wasn't a band try-out, he was going to see an old friend.

He quickly shacked off his embarrassment, grabbed some clothes and ran into the bathroom, with Hilde watching in confusion.

"Wow…" She said quietly to herself still standing up. "I've never seen him move so fast."

-

He was all clean and wearing a black button up work shirt over a white under shirt, a pair of faded jean, a black leather belt, and a small chain necklace. It wasn't the best outfit, but it was better that just the white t-shirt and the pants he was wearing earlier.

He even had some extra time to get there. Good thing he didn't see Hilde in the living room or kitchen. She must've gone to her room or something. This was the perfect time for him to go. They were close friends, but he wasn't in much of a mood after she brought up what he did in the past. Sadly, it reminded him of what he did to Sophitia.

But as he opened the door…

"Leaving now?" Hilde asked calmly as he say her outside the apartment.

"What are you doing out here Hilde?" Siegfried asked as he walked out.

"Just getting some air." She replied calmly. "I do this often either at work or when you're sleeping." She said leaning against the building.

Well, that does explain how he feels a draft every now and then. "I see… I'm sorry about waking you up this morning." He said finally being able to say something reasonable about that little incident.

"And I'm sorry about what I said after Yun-seong left." Hilde said knowing what that did to him. "I really shouldn't have brought that up, since you're still trying to redeem yourself."

"… Redeem myself hmm…" Siegfried couldn't help but think about those words for a minute. They just seemed to stand out. "It's okay. I guess we're even then."

"Whatever." Hilde said ignoring that last comment. "I'll stay here incase Yun-seong gets here before you. Go see your old friend. It's been a long time, right?" She asked standing straight and smiling at him.

"Right," He said smiling back at her. She really was like a sister him. "I'll try and make it back soon." He said walking towards his van.

"Take your time." Hilde said "I'll try to control myself around Yun-seong, don't worry." She said joking.

Siegfried chuckled at her last remark. Not only because he knew she was joking, but also she could control herself. Anyways, he waved back at her as he opened the driver's door to his van and looked back and saw her waving at him.

-

There he was… The house he remembered. It wasn't anything special, just a one story brick house. He remembered there also being a basement, but he wasn't sure what Sophitia was using it as now, since it was her and her family and not her parents.

He wasn't too sure how to approach her either. He hasn't been this nervous since his first gig with Nightmare. What would he say? What would he do? How would he approach her about the band? The first thing was to make sure he was forgiven for what he did in the past.

Anyways, he had to take the first step and get out of his van. As he climbed out of his van and walked down the stone walk way and towards the front door, he noticed someone walk out.

It was a woman who walked out of the door. Could that be her, or was he at the wrong house? She looked a little older than him, wearing a white dress and a pair of sandals. He also noticed her light brown hair was tide in a pony tail. All he really noticed… She was beautiful.

"Siegfried?" She said looking right at him. Yes, that was the voice on the phone. It was Sophitia. "Is that you?"

"Sophitia?" That was all he could say after seeing her for so long. She really is as beautiful as she he remembered. "I-I can't believe it."

He was expecting her to just walk closer and just offer a hand shake or something, but instead she ran to him and hugged him. After what he did to her, she was actually hugging him. He didn't even know what to do now. All he could think was hug her back. Sadly when he did, images of his past and what he did to her popped into his mind.

He quickly broke away from her the moment it happened.

"What's wrong?" She asked worried the moment she say his frightened face.

"I think it's a little too soon for hugs." He told her not wanting to tell her what he saw.

"I see…" She said nodding her head understanding his reason. "You're still in the process of redemption." She figured he was still making amends for his past, since he just recently left Nightmare.

"Yes… Redemption." He said looking straight at her. Redemption, redeem… Those words stuck out at him every time he heard them, and yet he didn't know why.

"Come on inside, Siegfried." Sophitia said breaking his train of thought. "I want you to meet my family." She said grabbing his hand and walking towards the door, practically dragging him with her.

"Alright, I'm coming." Siegfried said thinking that she treated him as if nothing has happened between them. How she was able to let go of the past so easily was something he'll need to learn for himself.

-

Her home looked about the same from what he remembered. A typical, family home, from the family photos to the dining room table that was bigger than his. Yep, she designed it like her parents did it.

"I didn't want to change it too much." Sophitia explained knowing what Siegfried was thinking. "You know, I still wanted the feeling of home like I had back in high school."

"You really haven't changed at all…" Siegfried said not joking. It amazed him how she was exactly how he remembered her.

"I'd like to think that I have." Sophitia replied to his comment. "Everyone has at least physical changes. I mean, you cut your hair since I last saw you." She said running her hand through his hair.

"I didn't like the length it was at." He said remembering that his hair was as long as Hilde's before he got it cut.

"It looks better." She said walking towards one of her pictures. "You got her at the right time. I just got home from church with my kids."

That's right; he remembered that she's very religious. "What about your husband?" He knew about her husband, of course he was the one that answered the phone.

"He stayed late for a priesthood meeting today. You know I'm Mormon, right?" She reminded him of her religion.

"Thanks for reminding me, I forgot." He said confessing that he forgot that of all things. "By the way, where are your kids?"

"They're taking naps right now." She said sitting down on the living room couch. "They are still little and sleep very often."

"I see…" He said looking at a picture of two little kids. It was a little boy and a baby girl. "Is this them?" He asked pointing to the picture.

"Yes. Their names are Pyrrha and Patroklos." Sophitia said calmly.

Was she serious? She was definitely still into Greek mythology. "You do know they're going to get a lot of crap for those names, right?"

"They have nicknames, Siegfried." She said a little annoyed by him. "And I'm still into Greek mythology, just not as much as my sister."

"Your sister?!" Come to think of it, he only knew Sophitia and her parents. He knew she had a younger brother, but she never met him.

"Oh, you never met her." Sophitia said leaning back. "She's a little younger than me, but she's living here at the moment." She said patting the seat next to her, hinting for him to sit next to her. "She's not here right now, but we turned the basement into an apartment for her."

So, that's what she did to the basement… Anyways, he took her invitation and sat next to her on her couch. It was actually a pretty nice woven couch, a lot nicer than his couch. "I see…" He said nodding his head. "Why were so able to forgive me so easily?" That has been bugging him since he called her the day before.

"Like I said before, God teaches to forgive others." Sophitia said with a gentle smile. He missed that gentle smile of hers. "If you can't forgive others, how can you expect to be forgiven?"

What she said made since to him, but he really doubts he could forgive himself for what he did. "Still, you have no idea, how much I regret…"

"Let's not talk about it." Sophitia said interrupting him. "But tell me how you've been doing."

"Well…"

-

He told her everything that has happened since they stopped talking. From meeting Hilde to leaving Nightmare, he didn't leave out any detail.

"Well, now that your career with Nightmare is over. What are you doing now?" Sophitia asked him with excitement.

"I'm sticking with my original Siegfried Schtauffen way." Siegfried said making fun of himself. "I'm forming a band with Hilde and a few other people."

"I remember the Siegfried Schtauffen way." Sophitia said remembering when he used to always say that. "You used to always say that in high school before you dropped out. 'Music before yourself.' That's what it is, right?"

"Yep, and so far we only need a vocalist…" He said feeling that now was the time to ask her seeing as they spoke for awhile. "Remember when you would sing solo in school all the time?"

"Oh, That…" Sophitia said looking down. "Siegfried, I can't." Siegfried was confused and needed and explanation. "I've got two kids to take care of and I just opened a diner down town. I can't just make time to join some band with people I don't know. I'm sorry, Siegfried."

Siegfried looked down with a little shame, but he should've known better than to ask a mother of two. "I can't say I'm not upset." He admitted. "But I shouldn't have asked you. I should've known your plate was already full." He said standing up from his seat.

"Hey, you should come down to the diner for lunch tomorrow." She said standing up after him. "It'll do you better that take out or any thing else it looks like you've been eating." She said handing him a business card that was on her coffee table. "We'll give you a discount for being a friend of mine."

"Thanks." He was going to take her up on that offer. It's been awhile since he's had a decent meal. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that he has been there for a little more than an hour. "Well, it's been nice, but I've got to get going." He said getting a questionable look from Sophitia. "I've got to help some one move in with us. He's another member of the band."

"Oh," Sophitia said standing up also. "You will keep in touch, right?" She asked him.

"Of course I will." He said making his way towards the door. "I'll see you around Sophitia."

"Yeah, I'll see you too." She said walking over to him. "May I please give you a quick hug?"

"I'm not sure…" Siegfried didn't want to have another image of the past flash back into his mind.

"Well, how about a handshake instead?" She asked holding out her left hand.

"Alright." He said grabbing her hand and shaking it. He was relieved when he didn't have images of his past flash in his mind like when she hugged him. He just smiled at her when their hands separated.

"Drive safely, okay?" She told him remembering the way he used to drive when he first got his license.

"Don't worry, I'm careful now." He said assuring here. "I drive a big vehicle for more than one reason." He got that van of his at first mainly because he had a hard time driving a smaller car and keep going off the road. As he opened the front door to her house he looked back at her. "I'll be sure to come by again soon."

"Yes, do." She said inviting him. "I would like you to meet my family."

"I would like that too." He said walking out of the house and still looking back at her as she closed the door and he walked out to his van.

-

As he entered his own home… He noticed a couple new things were added to the living room. Things such as a bed mat on the floor in front of his couch, an amp from Randall stack next to his VHT amps, a small dresser in the corner and two guitars in hard shell cases over with the Randall amps, one electric and one acoustic.

From what Siegfried could tell; Yun-seong and Hilde must've already moved his things into the apartment, but where were they?

"Wow! You guys have some old movies." Said a voice coming from the other side of the wall. Siegfried could tell it was Yun-seong's voice from earlier.

"Yeah, Siegfried and I enjoy the classics, and we always end up finding them on a DVD somewhere." Said Hilde's voice in the same spot.

Why were they going through the movies? Siegfried was curious about that, but he walked around and saw them looking through the movies in the entertainment center. He got their attention by knocking on the top of the entertainment center.

"Wow, you're back earlier than I thought." Hilde said looking at him.

"What did you think we would do? She's married?" He said leaning against the entertainment center.

"Oh, well." Hilde said standing up and straightening her back. "So, any good news?" She asked mainly referring to the band.

"Well, good and bad." Siegfried said slightly looking down.

"Hilde told me about wanting this friend of yours as the vocalist." Yun-seong said standing up also and admitting that he knows about Sophitia. "Is she joining up or not?"

"I'm afraid not." Siegfried admitted. "She's taking care of her family and she just opened up a diner in town." He said pulling the business card out of his pocket. "By the way, she invited us to eat their tomorrow."

"So, we need to find a vocalist?" Yun-seong asked wondering if they still have someone in mind or if they need to go back to square one.

"Yes," Hilde said sitting down on the couch annoyed. "We got all that we needed, except a vocalist."

"Yep, all but one." Siegfried said plainly going into the kitchen. "Anyways, I'm going to heat up some left over Chinese food for dinner." He said changing the subject. "We'll worry about this tomorrow. Kilik's place isn't even ready until Wednesday." That time it was his turn for words of comfort.

"Yeah, we've got plenty of time." Hilde said agreeing with Siegfried.

Siegfried was ready to manage without Sophitia. He found everyone else he needed, but he still needed to find a vocalist and that was the hardest part. But, he was ready to take on this challenge. It wasn't going to stop him from fulfilling his dream.

End of chapter 3

-

Author's Note: Christmas, getting pulled over, writer's blocks… I hit a lot of distraction with this fic. This long chapter should make up for it. Anyways, time for my cliché questions… Who will be the vocalist now that Sophitia has turned them down? Find out in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 4

Redemption

Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur and never will.

-

Chapter 4: The Other Sister

When Siegfried woke up the next morning… He didn't expect to hear an acoustic guitar being played. When he saw Yun-seong already dressed in a pair of jean shorts, sitting in on of the kitchen chairs and a white t-shirt finger picking a black colored Dean Performer E acoustic-electric guitar.

"You play Dean Acoustics?" Siegfried asked sitting up from his couch.

"Huh?" Yun-seong said just noticing Siegfried and ending the song he was playing. "Yeah, I saw The Azure Knight play a Dean with Nightmare recently and he sounded amazing." Siegfried was amazed to hear that Yun-seong actually saw him in Nightmare as the Azure Knight, but he's not going to tell him that it was him. "I just wish he didn't beer bomb the crowd the night that I went."

"That must've sucked." Siegfried said remembering that he did that. One of the many things he wished he didn't do.

"Yeah, well anyways, Dean was my first pick for guitars, but I liked the Schecter Tempest more that all the Deans I tried." Yun-seong explained. "Although, this acoustic is awesome."

"I see…" Siegfried said plainly. He never tried Dean's acoustic guitars; in fact he didn't even have a certain main brand of choice. He just grabbed whatever lefty he could find. "I'm going to go get ready for the day. You can have breakfast or something, the cereals in the top left shelf."

"Thanks." Yun-seong said standing up. "Oh, and thanks for letting me stay here."

"Don't mention it." Siegfried said grabbing some clothes from his dresser. "Just as long as you don't mind sleeping on the floor for now." Well, they couldn't even afford a bed for Siegfried yet, so he had to sleep on the floor for the time being. It was either that or the bath tub, which was exactly where Siegfried was going.

-

Siegfried came out of the shower in his usual clothing, torn jeans with a white t-shirt shirt. Come to think of it, he had a lot of plain t-shirts. It wasn't a problem; he just liked to keep things simple.

Anyways, he saw Yun-seong in the kitchen just eating what looked liked some kind of frosted cereal. Come to think of it, wasn't that Hilde's favorite?

"Wow that was fast." Yun-seong said amazed by Siegfried's showering time.

"I don't need much time to shower." He said calmly. He didn't need as much time as he did before now that his hair is shorter than it was when he was Nightmare that was for sure. "Anyways, you up for a jam session after breakfast? I need a rhythm section for a riff that I came up with."

"Sure." Yun-seong said eating the cereal that was in his bowl. "But I'm still surprised you guys accepted me into your band."

Siegfried just smiled and grabbed a box of corn flakes from the cabinet. "Well, we're not looking for perfection. We're not even underground yet after all. Why are you shocked?" Siegfried thought of this as an interesting subject for breakfast.

"Well, people I know said that I wasn't ready for a band." Yun-seong said looking back at old memories. "Even Hwang said I wasn't ready. They said I was too mediocre."

"What did they expect a band wants, another Slash, or maybe the next Jimmy Page?" Siegfried asked in confusion. "No one is perfect. Back in my old band, I was always behind the other members in terms of skill, but I was always trying to improve and I did thanks to practicing and playing with the other members." Siegfried said sitting down at the table, trying to make a point. "You have limits by yourself, but you can always improve when you've got someone to pick up something from."

"You've got a point." Yun-seong said looking right at him with a straight face. "You're a pretty cool guy, Siegfried."

"Thanks." Siegfried said taking the milk that was on the table and pouring some into his bowl. "Just keep that in mind, no one is perfect. Heck, Hilde is a good bassist, but not the best. We're all going to try to improve."

-

After breakfast, as they were playing… Siegfried was enjoying every minute they were playing, but Yun-seong noticed something about Siegfried's style that was very familiar to him. So familiar, he heard something like it before. Yun-seong even stopped playing to listen to Siegfried's guitar style.

"Is something wrong?" Siegfried said to Yun-seong noticing that he wasn't playing his guitar and stopped playing his own.

"No, it's just that I noticed your style sounds familiar to me." Yun-seong said to Siegfried also thinking about where he heard that guitar style before.

Siegfried knew from this morning that Yun-seong went to a Nightmare concert, but how could he notice familiarity so soon? He changed gear, he doesn't have a whammy bar on his guitar… how did he notice something? "Like who?" He had to ask just to make sure it wasn't from his time in Nightmare or just from one of his influences.

"You sound kind of like the Azure Knight from Nightmare." Yun-seong said looking straight at Siegfried.

'He knows. I bet he knows…' Siegfried thought getting ready to confess.

"You too must have the same influences or something," Yun-seong said smiling. "Because the Azure Knight never played a baritone." He said referring to Siegfried's guitar.

Well, Siegfried wasn't going to tell him that he was the Azure Knight, at least not yet. "Probably, although I've never met the guy." He said with a quiet sigh of relief.

"Consider yourself lucky." Yun-seong said remembering the Nightmare concert he went to. "Anyways, lets work on that song of yours until lunch, it sounds really good."

"Sounds like a deal to me." Siegfried said with a smile. He was relieved that Yun-seong didn't recognize him, but he still hasn't forgotten the problem they faced. They still needed to find a vocalist.

-

It has reached noon time… And just like Siegfried told Sophitia the day before, he went to her diner for lunch. Well, him and Yun-seong; he wasn't going to leave his co-guitarist alone for lunch. Especially with the fact that the only food in the apartment was either frozen food or left over take-out.

When they entered the small diner, they saw a bunch of stools lined up to a bar and a few straight tables up against the wall. Siegfried didn't expect anything big; since Sophitia told him she recently opened this place.

Since no one came up to walk them to a table, they just walked over to the bar a grabbed two random stools next to each other. Aside from them, there weren't that many people at the diner, but it was a Monday and people don't really have the time to stop and have a decent meal on the first business day of the week.

What ever, less people meant less time to wait for their food. So, they grabbed their menus from behind some ketchup bottles and took a look at what was available.

"Welcome to Alexandra's!" Said the waitress that neither of them were looking at when she first spoke.

When they looked up they saw that she was younger than Siegfried but older than Yun-seong. She had medium length blonde hair that went a little passed her jaw bone that was straight cut and had straight cut bangs to go with the rest of her hair cut. As for her clothes, she was wearing a white apron over a light blue long sleeve shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Siegfried noticed something familiar about her, but he hasn't really seen her anywhere before.

"I'm Cassandra and I'll be your waitress today." She said smiling at both of them. "Are you two ready to order?"

"Um, we'll just start with some drinks for now." Siegfried said looking back at the menu. "But besides that we still need a minute to look over the menu some more." There wasn't too much to choose from, but he knew Sophitia's cooking was good and wanted to choose the right thing.

"Okay, so what will it be for drinks?" Cassandra asked with her pen and paper ready.

What was it about this waitress that was familiar to Siegfried? She couldn't have been in any of his classes, she looked younger than him and he dropped out his freshman year of high school. "I'll just have water." He said still thinking about her and how familiar she looked. Seriously it was giving him a headache.

"I'll have a Dr. Pepper." Yun-seong said still looking at the menu. He himself was getting excited just looking at the names of the food.

"Oh, and I forgot to mention this before," Siegfried said about to bring up his last meeting with Sophitia. "Your boss, Sophitia recommended that I come here yesterday…"

"Oh, you're Siegfried." She said with a smile. "Yes, my sister did mention you." Sister?! Sophitia's her sister? "We can't give you too much of a discount, but you won't pay full price." She said walking away into the back room which looked like the kitchen.

Well, that explained why she looked familiar. She was Sophitia's sister, now that that is off his mind he can finally think about his problem involving the band. "Now Yun-seong, how do you think we can handle this vocalist problem?" He said turning to the young man next to him who was done looking at his menu.

"Well, I could make a few calls to some people at the orphanage and see if they would like to try out, but they are all under-age." Yun-seong said wondering if the age thing could be a problem or not.

"Age wouldn't be a problem if not for Hilde." Siegfried said shutting his eyes. He didn't want to blame his best friend, but rumors due cause band break ups. "A rumor could cause a big problem if we had an under-age vocalist, since we're all older and none of us are related to him or her."

"Good point," Yun-seong said nodding his head. He never did think of it like that. "Well, we have until Wednesday right?" He needed to be sure just in case.

"Yes, that's when Kilik expects us as a full band." Siegfried said calmly. "But, just like on that American Idol or whatever show, there are people who can sing, and people who think they can. So, finding a vocalist can be one of the hardest and longest things to do."

Just when he said that, Cassandra walked up to them with their drinks. "Here you guys go." She told them with a slight smile and also with a curious look. "And I couldn't help but over hear that you two are in a band and looking for a vocalist?"

"Well… You can say that." Siegfried said wondering if what they had right now was a band.

"Forgive me for intruding, but what genre is it, what sound are you going for?" She said with full curiosity and leaning on the bar table.

"Well… It's kind of like Staind, Flyleaf…" Yun-seong said just naming bands. "All in all, it's like Alternative Hardcore Rock. Just lots of distortion, but not as much as Metal."

"I see…" She said at first sounding a little disappointed. "Can I try out?" She asked with excitement.

"What?!" They both asked at the same time. Neither of them saw that coming. At first it sounded like she lost interest and them she sounded excited.

"Please? I love Flyleaf music; I've seen them live twice." Cassandra said obviously just making an excuse, but he highly doubted that that was her real reason.

"That's nice, but why do you want to be involved with someone you don't even know?" Siegfried felt the need to ask this question, because she looked like a good girl, while Yun-seong and he looked more liked high school stoners. Even though Siegfried never did drugs; he only drank. Not that that's anything to brag about.

"Well, can I tell you at the try out?" She asked them blushing from embarrassment. "It's a little too personal to tell you guys here."

"No problem." Siegfried replied understanding where she was coming from. Some things just had to be kept out of the public ear. "What time does your shift end?"

Cassandra face lit up hearing that they were going to give her a chance. "Oh, my shift ends at four." She said with excitement.

"Hm… And Hilde won't be home until five…" Siegfried muttered to himself. "Okay…" He said turning his attention to Cassandra. "Could you show up at around five thirty?"

"Yes!" She said still full of excitement and handing him a piece of paper and a pen. "Please give me your address, so I'll know where to go."

"Okay…" He said writing down the address to the apartment complex and his apartment number. While he was doing that, he thought of her excitement and how it reminded him of how Sophitia was back when went on her first date. How could she be so excited over something so different?

Anyways, he finished writing down the address and apartment number and handed her the piece of paper. "This is the address to the apartment building, and this is our apartment number." He said pointing to both of them.

"Oh, okay." She said understanding what he was saying easily. "But, I'll still need to take your order." She said reminding them that she was their waitress. "Sophitia's sister or not, if I'm not doing my job, I'll get fired."

"Oh, right…" Siegfried said looking back at the menu. He wasn't all that excited about the food anymore. If Cassandra could sing in any way like her sister, then she could be exactly what they needed.

-

As the day passed by Siegfried never got over his excitement that they could've possibly found someone in so short of time, but when they told Hilde, she wasn't so excited…

"So you just told this girl, who might have no music background at all, that she can just try out?" She said with no enthusiasm at all.

"Well, hey if she doesn't work we'll need to spend the next two days looking for a vocalist and that is not an easy task." Siegfried said letting her know about the problem that they were still facing. "Unless you know someone else, this is our best shot."

Hilde didn't know anyone else, so Siegfried really did have a point. "Well, you are right…" Hilde said shrugging her shoulders.

"For some reason he always is." Yun-seong said interrupting her while going through on of the cabinets. "At least when it comes to band related things." He said removing his head from the cabinet with a bag of chips that he was looking for. "It's like he has experience in this area."

Seeing Siegfried turn and look away, Hilde could tell he wasn't ready to tell them about his past. "Well, that's one way to put it, but it's rather personal." She said not trying to get Yun-seong to bring up any more questions.

"That's fair enough." Yun-seong said eating some of the potato chips he took from the cabinet. "But, hey when is she getting here anyways?"

"In about ten minutes," Siegfried said looking at the microwave clock. "But who knows? She might get here earlier."

Just then, there was a knock on the front door as if they were expecting it, but could it really be her? As Siegfried answered the door he saw that is was Cassandra, wearing what she was wearing earlier, just without the apron.

"Hey, am I too early?" She asked with a little concern in her voice. "I had nothing else to do and was just in the area." She was actually on the exact same street as the apartment complex returning home from running an errand for Sophitia and just saw it and figured that that was a good time to have her try out.

"Not at all, it's better to be early than late." Siegfried said with a slight smile and stood away from the doorway to welcome her into his home. "Please come in and we'll get started."

"Thank you." She said walking into the apartment and looking around seeing Yun-seong again, except with a bag of chips, and red head girl that wasn't there before. "Wait! You weren't with them at lunch today." She said pointed at Hilde.

"No, I was working." Hilde said to the blonde girl Siegfried told her was named Cassandra. She seemed nice enough, but didn't really have the rock attitude. "I didn't get out for lunch today because I was switching my shift."

'Really?' Siegfried thought to himself. She didn't even come home for lunch. Then again, it was probably because she could get the same exact thing at the restaurant they ordered it from. "Anyways, let's begin." Siegfried said leading her over to his couch. Seeing her gracefully sit down assured him that she did seem comfortable. He grabbed a chair from the kitchen counter and sat across from her. "Alright, I just have a few simple questions for you and then we'll here what you can do, okay?" He figured that was the best way, since that was how everyone else got in.

"Okay…" She said leaning forward with a little excitement.

"First of all, what is your music background?" Siegfried asked. Yun-seong instantly noticed from the other room that those were the same type he asked him.

"I started singing in the school chorus in middle school, both in background and as a soloist." Cassandra said with enthusiasm about her life. "In High School, I was introduced to rock music thanks to some friends who thought that my voice would work better for that genre than the classical or pop music that we were singing in chorus."

"Sounds like this friend of yours really had faith in your voice." Siegfried said interrupting her story.

"Yes, you can say that." Cassandra said just realizing that moment. "Anyways, I quit chorus and started doing private music study since then." She said ending her story.

"I see…" Siegfried said almost understanding her story, but if it was all true she just might be as good if not better than what he originally wanted. "What about a mic or sound system? Do you own anything like that?"

"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get anything like that, because I live with Sophitia and I don't want to get on to bother her family or anything." Cassandra said shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, that's sad." Hilde said rudely. "You're in your twenty's and you live with your sister."

"Hilde!!" Siegfried said almost barking at her. She was his best friend but she could really doesn't think sometimes.

"No, she's right." Cassandra said still smiling, but with a hint of sadness in her voice. "It is pathetic."

What? Something wasn't right with this picture. She was actually agreeing with that. Siegfried had made some bad choices in his live, really bad choices, but he also knew when to help make a good one. "Please, Cassandra. Just ignore Hilde and we'll go on with the interview." He knew he wanted to help this girl, and if giving her a chance would help her, then it is what he wants to do. "Last question, why do you want to get involved with this world?" With that question, everyone in was stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

"Well," She stopped smiling at just looked right at Siegfried. "All my life I've been compared to my Sophitia, like I was the other sister, the inferior one. My parent would often say, 'Why didn't you go to college like Sophitia?' or 'Why don't you go on a mission like you sister did? You'll be a better person.' It drove me to the point where I was forced to leave me parents and actually live with my sister. Now I'm working for her. It's like I really did turn into the 'other' sister."

Hearing this story made everyone think again about there own lives and Hilde want to take back her rude comment from earlier, because she never experienced anything like that. She was actually a little spoiled by her father growing up.

Yun-seong of course was an orphan and this gave him a whole new view of family, their can be both good parents that he used to dream of and bad ones like Cassandra just described.

And Siegfried was almost thankful to be disowned by his parents, because he now knows that he could've experienced something a lot worse than what he went through.

"This is the only thing she doesn't have." She said with tears starting to swell in her eyes. "If this is the only ticket out of her shadow. I'll take it."

"Cassandra…" Siegfried said quietly. "What you went through is indeed something no one deserves, and it will in no way affect our judgment towards you." He said bringing up the try out. "You do deserve a chance to do whatever you want, and we'll give you that chance." His words made her smile with joy at him. "Please, take a minute to calm down, and we'll find you a song to sing, okay?"

"Okay…" She said nodding, and to everyone's surprise leaned forward and hugged Siegfried. "Thank you, so much."

"Um…" He didn't really know what do at that point. He wasn't having any flashbacks of his past experience with Sophitia or any other girl. So, he just slowly separated himself from her and stood from his seat. "I'll get you some water to help clear your voice."

"Thanks." She said no longer shaken from telling them about her past with her parents.

As he walked to the kitchen he thought about Cassandra and everyone else involved in the band. The only person that won't get a lot of help from this band would be Hilde. If Cassandra really was a good vocalist this could be a little more than just redemption for himself, but also his way of helping someone else.

End of Chapter 4

-

Author's Note: That is the worst cliffhanger ever!!! I was postponing this trying to think of a song for Cassandra to sing and make the chapter longer, but I just thought, screw it I'll make it shorter and save it for later. I still don't have a song, so I need some help. I'm open to anything melodic or a ballad, not just a Hardcore Rock song. I can whatever anyone's got that I like. Please, help me out.


	6. Chapter 5

Redemption

Summery: Siegfried left his old band to try and start a new life. Upon finding out he'll never be able to get music out of his system he now starts a new band with a new look and new gear. But how long will it be until his old band comes back to haunt him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Calibur or the song lyrics in this chapter.

-

Chapter 5: More than Just A Little News

After spending a few minutes calming down Cassandra was ready to for her try out. She just had to wait for Hilde to change the CD in the stereo.

"Sorry about this." Hilde said now with a different mind toward the blonde. "I like to know the songs. So if you don't know this song, just listen to it. I have it on repeat." She said explaining how she had it set up.

"Thank you." Cassandra said with a slight smile at the red head.

"We'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." Hilde said walking into the kitchen, where Siegfried and Yun-seong were, while the song was playing.

As Siegfried and Yun-seong sat at the kitchen table they both stared at Hilde wondering the same thing. "What song did you pick for her?" Siegfried though beat Yun-seong to the punch and asked first.

"Broken Wings from Alter Bridge," She answered plainly. "I just thought it fit the mood best."

"Oh, isn't that that one band that Mark Tremonti formed after Creed broke up?" Yun-seong asked curiously. He heard the name of the band, but didn't really remember it.

"Yeah, it actually has all the older members of Creed, except the vocalist." Hilde said stating a small fact that she knew.

"Hm, yeah that's right…" Siegfried said slightly hearing the song in the background. "It is a nice song. I think I work it out if I get a different guitar."

"Well, yeah. It would be hard to get even close to a high tuning on a baritone guitar, right?" Yun-seong asked even though he already knew that baritone tuning was three steps below standard tuning.

"… That's right…" Siegfried said not really paying attention to Yun-seong, but still listening to the song. Then, he heard something he didn't expect, a female vocal in the second verse. "Wait! Do you guys hear that too?" He said standing up from the shock.

"Oh yeah, we do." Yun-seong and Hilde said at the same time.

_Cry ourselves to sleep,  
We will sleep alone forever,  
Will you lay me down in the same place with all I love,  
Mend the broken home,  
Care for them they are our brothers,  
Save the fading light in our souls._

That voice had a bright side, but it still sounded aggressive and angst. Could that voice really be coming from Cassandra? The girl they were just talking to? One way to find out, they ran into the living room.

_My opinion seeing is to know,  
and what you give will always carry you,  
and whose to say we wont survive it too_

As Siegfried stared in amazement at what he was seeing and hearing, it really was her that was singing.

_On broken wings I'm falling,  
And it won't be long,  
The skin on me burning by the force of the sun,  
My skinned knees are bleeding,  
And it won't be long,  
I've got to find that meaning,  
That I've searched for so long_

They were all just stunned. She matched the song perfectly. She was exactly what they needed.

"Well," Hilde said to Siegfried in a whisper. "You made a good choice."

"I guess so…" Siegfried said still stunned by Cassandra's voice.

Cassandra stopped singing as soon as she noticed them staring at her. "Was it bad?" She was afraid of what they were going because there faces didn't say if they were pleased were disappointed.

"What are you talking about?" Siegfried said with a slight smile. "You were amazing!"

"Really?!" She asked with shock in her voice and a smile across her voice.

"What's the earliest time you can make band practice?" Siegfried asked her out of curiosity.

"You mean?" Cassandra was a little confused on why he was asking.

"You're in." Was all he said for her to jump up and try to hug him again. "Okay, okay, not another hug. You just met me." He said partly joking and also he just didn't want to get hugged again.

"Oh, okay." She said putting her arms down. "I'll just talk to Sophitia about switching over to the breakfast shift and get out of work at noon. Does that work?"

"Perfect." Yun-seong said beating Siegfried this time. Now they were even. "So now we can get as much practice as we can."

"Except Saturdays," Siegfried said interrupting everyone's fantasies. "I teach guitar on Saturdays. I still need to contribute to the rent somehow." Good thing he remembered Talim and Amy though all this madness. He would've gotten into some trouble with not only Raphael, but also with Talim grandmother if he forgot.

"Okay, we have that day off." Yun-seong said feeling a little relief that he'll get a little break.

"Alright, well I need to get going." Cassandra said out of nowhere. "I didn't tell Sophitia I was coming here and I was out running an errand for her." Why did she forget to mention that again?

"Alright, then…" Siegfried said writing down the phone number to the apartment on a piece of paper. "Here," he said handing it to her. "Call if anything comes up."

"Oh, thanks." Cassandra said looking at the piece of paper and walking towards the door. "I'll see you guys later." She said smiling and walking out the door.

When she closed it behind her and was sure she was gone they all looked at each other with relief. They have help someone with their self-esteem and found the piece of the puzzle they were looking for. It was the perfect win-win situation.

"Well, so what do we do now?" Yun-seong asked curiously not really sure what to do now that it was that they had every member they needed.

"We still have that song to work on." Siegfried said reminded Yun-seong what they were doing earlier that day after breakfast.

"Let me grab my bass and amp." Hilde said walking towards her room. "I'm still involved with all of this." She said thinking she had to remind them that she was still was still in the band.

-

After about half an hour of practice they were completely align and playing at the same pace. More than just that; they found the tuning that worked for the song for each of them and found a way to make their own styles work together. Siegfried would've wanted to play longer, but he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Of all times…" Siegfried muttered to himself putting down his guitar and standing up from his seat. It didn't really bother him back when he was with Nightmare when someone interrupted him during band practice, but at that time they were building up chemistry.

But when he saw that it was Raphael, he calmed down a little. "Hey Raphael," He said welcoming his friend into his home. "What's up?"

"A lot has happened." Raphael said looking around and noticed Yun-seong and Hilde. "But I need to tell you in private." Hearing this from Raphael hinted that it either involved Nightmare or something in his personal life, so it couldn't be good.

"Let's go outside." Siegfried told him knowing that it was more private than the small apartment. As they walked out Siegfried noticed Raphael just staring out at nothing. "So, what's going on?"

"A few things…" Raphael said looking at him. "First thing though, your song sounds pretty good. I over heard it while finishing a cigarette." Siegfried knew that Raphael smelled like cigarette smoke. At least he didn't try to bring it into his home. "But, I need to get straight to business. We found a replacement for you in Nightmare."

Siegfried was amazed they found one already. He figured it would take a little longer. "I'm actually surprised. What's his name?"

"I was in the bathroom during the interview part and no one would say after." Raphael said confusingly. "But, the thing you need to know is that he somehow got the helmet you threw away and he's taking up the name of the Azure Knight." Raphael didn't want to tell him, but he just felt the need to tell him.

"What?!" This news scared Siegfried. He didn't even want to see that helmet again, but seeing it on someone else… "How can people even tell the difference between us!?"

"Don't worry, he has red hair and is right handed." Raphael said hoping that that news would assure him. "Although I would warn to avoid him and his friend."

"His friend?" Siegfried was curious about avoiding both of them.

"Yes, his friend is a teenage girl that seems to have split personality." Raphael said recounting from meeting her. "Anyways, from seeing your hair cut and your change in gear, you want to hide you past." It was just a guess but Siegfried nodded in agreement since he was right. "They've seen your face and are big admirers of yours. If you encounter them they will blow you cover."

"I see…" Siegfried said nodding in agreement. He will have to tell the other members eventually, but he doesn't want to tell them any time soon. "You do have a point."

"Also, you might need to avoid him for another reason. His temper is just as bad as yours was." Raphael said with resentment. "It makes me glad I'm joining another band…"

"You're joining another band?" Siegfried asked showing his full confusion. Raphael was in Nightmare before Siegfried even joined.

"I guess it slipped." Raphael said scratching the back of his head. He really meant to keep it a secret. "I guess it's because I don't see Nightmare getting anywhere. Seriously, Cervantes is almost fifty and Astaroth has been kicked out of Massachusetts, Colorado, and Kentucky." Raphael didn't even know the reasons why Astaroth got kicked out of those states. That was one subject they just avoided. "Now I'm with some other members that have a future and I actually see myself with these guys."

From what Siegfried was hearing it seemed Raphael was already playing with them behind the other's backs. "Who are these other guys?" Siegfried asked curiously. He was wondering this now, because if they could keep up with Raphael's bass rhythm they might be really good.

"Oh, they're not new to our world." Raphael said with a smirk. "I bet you remember the underground instrumentalist, Taki."

"Taki!?" Siegfried did remember Taki. In fact, she insulted his guitar style and called him a joke to music back when he was in Nightmare. Of all the people in the underground world of music. "Why did you ask her?"

"She asked me." Raphael admitted and putting his hands in his jeans' pockets. "She's forming this band with her co-guitarist, Setsuka, and she's not doing instrumental stuff anymore."

Siegfried also knows of Setsuka. Too bad she was famous for wearing kimonos and other Japanese clothing instead of actually playing guitar. She wasn't even Japanese, she was American; she was adopted by a Japanese family and took up the name Setsuka.

"Interesting…" Siegfried said thinking that it might actually be a pretty good band. "Who is playing drums?"

"You might not remember that time Astaroth was with us in recording, but the guy that took over for him, Maxi." Raphael said bringing back a memory and reminding Siegfried that he just met Maxi. "The guy that you didn't even talk to…"

"I remember." Siegfried said just realizing that Maxi was actually a famous drummer in the underground world. He was always available for other bands when their original drummers were unavailable.

"Well he's finally committed to this band and they asked me to be bass and vocals instead of back-up vocals like in Nightmare." Raphael said feeling a little prideful. "And it feels good. I got a new bass; I'm wearing clothes that I want to wear. It's like a brand new start, but I will still be with Nightmare."

Oh, well wasn't sure if staying with Nightmare was a good idea or not, but he will still support him. "You replaced your Axl?" Siegfried asked him. Raphael did mention that before when he dropped off Amy last time, but didn't say anything else about it.

"Yeah, I got a Washburn Bantam." Raphael said pulling his hands out of his pockets. "It sounds so much better and it works for both bands. I still owe Setsuka one for finding it for me."

"Something's not right. She found it for you?" Siegfried was really confused. How could she have gotten it for him the day after Siegfried left the band? Something wasn't connecting… Unless the other band was forming before Siegfried left.

"We got together and started jamming before you left Nightmare." Raphael admitted and covered his head in fear that Siegfried might freak out and attack him.

"Better early than not at all." Siegfried said assuring him that he was fine with it. He's been actually calm with some things ever since he started raiding Hilde's CD collection and used that music as his therapy.

Raphael was actually shocked that he was okay with it. "Wow!! It has been more than your appearance that changed."

"I had a little therapy." Siegfried remarks with a smirk referring to the music he's been listening too.

Raphael though knew exactly what he was talking about. "I see… You made a good change." Raphael said just seconds before his phone rang. "Man, I got a text message…" As he read it he realized it was from Amy. "I need to pick up dinner for Amy." He said putting his phone back in his pocket and walking out towards the parking lot. As he waked out he looked back towards his friend. "Good luck with your new band." He said as he continued to walk and wave good bye to Siegfried.

Siegfried smiled and waved back to him. "Same thing to you, Raphael." Siegfried said to him as his watched his friend walk away towards the parking lot. But, as Siegfried walked towards his door, he did remember Maxi helping Nightmare in recording when they were getting some songs up on a website.

In fact he didn't recognize him before because he had blonde hair when he helped Nightmare and it was longer. (AU: Maxi's 2P costume hair.) So, it was no wonder Siegfried didn't realize it before. Also, Siegfried barely talked to him during that time, so he wasn't able to recognize a voice either. He was also very lucky Maxi didn't see his real face back then either, because then he would've been in some trouble and Kilik would've changed his mind.

But that thought left his mind as he entered his home and saw Yun-seong and Hilde waiting for him. Although Yun-seong had to know something before they got back to song writing.

"Hey, how do you know Raphael Sorel?" Yun-seong had to ask that because he did see Raphael perform with Nightmare and Raphael had a good reputation for his bass work.

"Well…" Siegfried said thinking of something to say. He didn't want to tell him his secret right now and he wasn't really able to think of any excuse right at that moment.

"Raphael helped me with my rhythm." Hilde said speaking for Siegfried. Good thing she was better liar than he was. "Siegfried and him also jammed and bonded during that time."

"Oh! I see…" Yun-seong said believing every word. Siegfried and Hilde both thought that he wasn't the brightest boy, but that did work to their advantage. "Well it's good to see that he still visits every now and then. Now let's get back to song writing."

Siegfried just smiled as he grabbed his guitar and turned his amp back off from standby. As he sat down and started playing with his new band mates he started thinking about how long he could keep his secret. Now that someone has replaced him it just might be harder than it originally was. Not to mention that him and his so called friend saw his real face. So, now he has two issues, hide the truth, and avoid the ones who could exploit the truth.

End of Chapter 5

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Author's Note: This one is short, but this chapter exposes that Cassandra is officially in the band, and to bring back Raphael (I'm planning on making him a big character in this fic.) and hint some coming character that will be coming soon in this fic. As for the song, I didn't really like any of the suggestions I got, so I went through my play list and found that song. I believe I used in a fic that I deleted I think last year or so. Anyways, I'm going to finish this boring note by saying I'm sorry for taking so long and please just bare with me, I've got a lot on my plate right now.


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